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WORKS  ISSUED  BY 


THE  HAKLUYT  SOCIETY 


THE  TRAVELS  OF  IBN  BATTUTA 

A.D.  1325-1354 

VOL.  I 


SECOND  SERIES 
No.  CX 


ISSUED  FOR  1956 


HAKLUYT  SOCIETY 


patron: 

H.R.H.  THE  DUKE  OF  GLOUCESTER,  K.G.,  P.C.,  K.T.,  K.P. 

COUNCIL  AND  OFFICERS,  1956 

PRESIDENT 

J.  N.  L.  Baker,  Esq.,  M.A.,  B.Litt. 

VICE-PRESIDENTS 

Professor  E.  G.  R.  Taylor,  D.Sc.  James  A.  Williamson,  Esq.,  D.Litt. 

Sir  Alan  Burns,  G.C.M.G. 

COUNCIL  (WITH  DATE  OF  ELECTION) 

A.  H.  G.  Alston,  Esq.  (1956) 

Professor  C.  R.  Boxer  (1955) 

G.  R.  Crone,  Esq.,  M.A.  (1955) 

E.  S.  de  Beer,  Esq.,  F.S.A.  (1956) 

Sir  Maurice  Holmes,  G.C.B.,  G.B.E.  (1957) 

Sir  Gilbert  Laithwaite,  G.C.M.G.,  K.C.B.,  K.C.I.E.,  C.S.I.  (1956) 

Sir  Harry  Luke,  K.C.M.G.,  D.Litt.  (1954) 

Commander  R.  D.  Merriman,  R.I.N.,  D.S.C.  (1957) 

J.  V.  Mills,  Esq.,  M.A.  (1956) 

George  P.  B.  Naish,  Esq.  (1955) 

Walter  Oakeshott,  Esq.,  F.S.A. ,  Hon.  LL.D.  (1954) 

Professor  D.  B.  Quinn  (1957) 

Lord  Rennell  of  Rodd,  D.L.,  F.S.A.  (1954) 

Royal  Geographical  Society  (General  Sir  James  Marshall- Cornwall) 
Helen  M.  Wallis,  D.Phil.  (1957) 

Sir  Richard  Winstedt,  K.B.E.,  C.M.G.,  F.B.A.,  D.Litt., 

Hon.  LL.D.  (1953) 


TRUSTEES 

J.  N.  L.  Baker,  Esq.,  M.A.,  B.Litt. 

E.  W.  Bovill,  Esq.,  F.S.A. 

treasurer:  F.  B.  Maggs,  Esq. 

HON.  SECRETARY 

R.  A.  Skelton,  Esq.,  B.A.,  F.S.A.,  British  Museum,  London,  W.C.i 

HON.  SECRETARIES  FOR  OVERSEAS 
Australia:  Professor  R.  M.  Crawford 
Canada:  Professor  J.  B.  Bird 
New  Zealand:  C.  R.  H.  Taylor,  Esq.,  M.A. 

South  Africa:  Douglas  Varley,  Esq. 

U.S.A.:  W.  M.  Whitehill,  Esq.,  Ph.D.,  F.S.A. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Public.Resource.Org 


https://archive.org/details/travelsofibnbatt01harg 


The  Mosque  of  Mecca,  with  the  Ka'ba,  from  the  east 


THE  TRAVELS  OF 

I  BN  BATTUTA 

•  •  • 

A.D.  1325-1354 

Translated  with  revisions  and  notes 
from  the  Arabic  text  edited  by 
C.  DEFREMERY  and  B.  R.  S ANGU INETTI 

by 

H.  A.  R.  GIBB 

VOL.  I 


CAMBRIDGE 

Published  for  the  Hakluyt  Society 
AT  THE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

1958 


PUBLISHED  BY 


THE  SYNDICS  OF  THE  CAMBRIDGE  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 

Bentley  House,  200  Euston  Road,  London,  N.W.i 
American  Branch:  32  East  57th  Street,  New  York  22,  N.Y. 


Printed  in  Great  Britain 
by  Robert  MacLehose  and  Company  Limited 
at  the  University  Press  Glasgow 


CONTENTS 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS  AND  MAPS  ..  ..  page 

FOREWORD . 

IBN  JUZAYY’S  INTRODUCTION,  IN  WHICH  THE 

ORIGIN  AND  COMPILATION  OF  THE  BOOK  IS  SET 

FORTH 

Invocation  to  God  and  the  Prophet,  i:  panegyric  of  the 
Sultan  of  Morocco,  2:  Ibn  Battuta  and  his  travels,  5: 
composition  of  his  narrative,  6:  put  into  literary  form 
by  Ibn  Juzayy,  6 

CHAPTER  I.  NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

Ibn  Battuta's  departure  from  Tangier  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two,  a.h.  725  (a.d.  1325),  for  the  pilgrimage  to 
Mecca  and  Medina,  8:  at  Tlemsen  and  Miliana,  9: 
Algiers  and  Bougie,  10:  Constantine  and  Bone,  12: 
Tunis,  12:  the  Sultan,  13:  pilgrim  caravan  formed,  15: 
at  Susa  and  Sfax,  15:  Gabes  and  Tripoli,  16:  Ibn 
Battuta  married  at  Tripoli,  17:  crosses  the  desert,  17: 
separates  from  his  first  wife  and  marries  a  second,  18: 
arrives  at  Alexandria,  18:  description  of  the  city,  18:  its 
learned  men,  21:  the  Litany  of  the  Sea,  25:  a  riot,  27: 

Ibn  Battuta  goes  on  to  Kom  Torouga,  29:  and  Daman- 
hur,  30:  and  Fuwwa,  30:  visits  the  shaikh  al-Murshidi, 

30:  rides  to  Nahrarlya,  32:  Ibyar,  32:  Mahalla,  34: 
Tinnis  and  its  lake,  35:  Damietta,  36:  anecdotes  of  the 
shaikh  al-Sawi,  37:  Ibn  Battuta  goes  on  to  Fariskur 
and  Ashmun  al-Rumman,  40:  and  Samannud,  40: 
arrives  at  Cairo  'mother  of  cities’,  41:  Mosque  of  ‘Amr, 

42:  monastic  establishments  of  Cairo  and  their  cere¬ 
monies,  43:  the  Qarafa  (cemetery),  45:  the  Egyptian 
Nile,  48:  the  Pyramids,  50:  the  Sultan  of  Egypt,  al- 
Malik  al-Nasir,  52:  some  amirs,  53:  qadis,  55:  scholars 
and  notables,  57:  the  Mahmil,  58:  Ibn  Battuta  leaves 
Cairo  for  Upper  Egypt  with  the  pilgrim  caravan  (May, 
a.d.  1326),  59:  goes  to  Bush,  Dalas  and  Bibba,  60:  and 
Minya,  61:  the  story  of  Khasib,  61:  Ibn  Battuta  travels 
to  Mallawi  and  Manfalut,  63:  to  Asyut,  64:  to  Akhmim, 

65:  to  Hu,  66:  to  Qina  and  Qus,  66:  to  Luxor  and  Isna, 

67:  to  Edfu,  and  across  the  desert  to  'Aidhab  on  the 
Red  Sea,  68:  the  pilgrims  find  the  ships  sunk,  return  to 
Qus,  and  sail  down  the  Nile  to  Cairo  (arriving  about  17 
July,  a.d.  1326),  69 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  II.  SYRIA  ..  ..  ..  ..  page  7 1 

Ibn  Battuta  leaves  Cairo,  71:  reaches  Bilbais  and 
Salihiya,  and  crosses  the  desert  to  Gaza,  71:  travels  to 
Hebron,  73:  by  Bethlehem  to  Jerusalem,  77:  the  Dome 
of  the  Rock,  78:  holy  places  and  scholars,  79:  Ibn 
Battuta  visits  Ascalon,  81:  goes  on  to  Ramla  and 
Nablus,  82:  ‘Ajlun  and  through  the  Ghawr  to  Acre  and 
Tyre,  82:  to  Sidon,  Tiberias,  and  Beirut,  84:  the  story 
of  Abu  Ya'qub,  86:  journey  continued  to  Tripoli,  88:  to 
Hisn  al-Akrad,  Homs,  and  Hamah,  90:  to  Ma'arra,  92: 
and  by  Sarmin  to  Aleppo,  93:  the  citadel  of  Aleppo,  95: 
the  city  and  its  qadis,  97:  journey  resumed  to  Tizin, 

103:  Antioch  and  the  castle  of  Baghras,  103:  the  castle 
of  Qusair,  and  castles  belonging  to  the  Fida'i  sect,  105: 
a  story  of  the  amir  Qarasunqur,  107:  Ibn  Battuta  jour¬ 
neys  to  Jabala,  109:  the  tale  of  Ad'ham,  no:  a  false 
Mahdi,  112:  Ibn  Battuta  goes  on  to  Latakia,  113:  and 
to  Lebanon,  115:  to  Ba'albek,  116:  and  reaches  Damas¬ 
cus  (about  9  August,  a.d.  1326),  118:  the  poets'  praises 
of  the  city,  119:  the  Great  Mosque  described,  124:  its 
imams  and  teachers,  132:  qadis  of  Damascus,  134:  its 
colleges,  137:  tombs  and  holy  places,  139:  environs  of 
the  city,  141:  pious  endowments  of  its  people  and  their 
charity,  148:  their  religious  ceremonies,  150:  lectures 
attended  by  Ibn  Battuta,  154:  and  teaching  diplomas 
obtained  by  him,  155:  his  third  marriage,  157 

CHAPTER  III.  FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA  ..  ..  158 

The  pilgrim  caravan  leaves  Damascus  (i  September, 
a.d.  1326)  and  camps  at  Kiswe,  158:  journeys  to 
Sanamain,  Ezra',  and  Bosra,  158:  to  Karak,  Ma'an, 
and  Dhat  Hajj,  159:  enters  the  desert  and  waters  at 
Tabuk,  160:  Ukhaidir  ‘valley  of  hell’,  161:  halts  at 
Qual'at  al-Mu‘adhdham  and  Mada'in  Salih,  162:  at 
‘Ela  and  Hadiya,  162:  the  pilgrims  reach  Madina  and 
perform  the  customary  ceremonies,  163:  the  Mosque  of 
the  Apostle  of  God,  164:  its  building  by  Muhammad, 

167:  its  enlargement  by  Omar,  168:  and  by  other 
Caliphs,  170:  the  qibla  and  pulpit,  172:  imam  of  the 
mosque,  174:  its  servitors,  muezzins,  and  resident 
scholars,  175:  the  amir  of  Madina,  178:  holy  places 
outside  Madina,  178:  religious  exercises  of  the  pilgrims, 

182:  they  leave  after  four  days  for  Mecca,  184:  Ibn 
Battuta  assumes  the  obligation  of  the  Greater  Pil¬ 
grimage,  184:  the  pilgrims  camp  at  Shi'b  al-Hajj,  at 
Rawha/,  at  Safra,  and  at  Badr,  184:  site  of  the  battle 
of  Badr,  185:  the  caravan  enters  the  ‘Flat  of 
al-Bazwa'  and  journeys  on  by  Rabigh  and  Khulais, 


vi 


CONTENTS 


186:  and  by  ‘Usfan  and  Marr  al-Zuhran  to  Mecca, 

187 

CHAPTER  IV.  MECCA  .  page  iSS 

The  pilgrims  enter  the  Mosque  and  perform  their  ritual 
exercises  at  the  Ka‘ba,  188:  a  meditation,  189:  descrip¬ 
tion  of  Mecca,  190:  of  the  Mosque,  191:  and  the  Ka‘ba 
and  its  marvels,  193:  the  Black  Stone,  196:  the  Maqam 
(station),  198:  and  Hijr  (enclosure),  199:  the  well  of 
Zamzam,  199:  the  gates  of  the  Mosque  and  sanctuaries 
outside  Mecca,  201:  and  mountains  around  the  town, 

210:  adventure  of  two  pilgrims  in  the  mountains,  213: 
the  two  amirs  of  Mecca,  214:  good  qualities  of  the 
Meccans,  215:  the  qadl  and  khatlb  of  Mecca  and  imam 
of  the  pilgrimage  ceremony,  216:  other  imams  and 
notables  of  Mecca,  219:  some  sojourners  at  Mecca,  221: 
the  story  of  the  shaikh  Sa'Id  and  his  mission  to  India, 

223:  the  story  of  Hasan  the  demoniac,  229:  religious 
practices  of  the  Meccans,  230:  the  ‘Umra  (Lesser  Pil¬ 
grimage)  of  Rajab,  234:  tribesmen  of  the  vicinity,  236: 
ceremonies  in  Sha'ban  and  Ramadan,  238:  and  in 
Shawwal,  241:  Sacralization  of  the  Ka‘ba,  242:  rites  of 
the  Pilgrimage,  242:  station  at  ‘Arafa,  244:  conclusion 
of  the  Pilgrimage,  246 

CHAPTER  V.  FROM  MECCA  TO  KUFA  ..  ..  ..  249 

Ibn  Battuta  leaves  Mecca  in  the  caravan  of  ‘Iraq  (17 
November,  a.d.  1326),  249:  the  caravan  returns  to 
Madina,  250:  camps  at  Wadi l-‘ Arus,  enters  Nejd,  and 
halts  at  ‘Usaila,  251:  at  Naqira,  Qarawra,  Hajir, 
Samira,  and  Makhruqa,  251:  arrives  at  Faid,  ‘halfway 
between  Mecca  and  Baghdad,  252:  travels  on  by  Ajfur 
and  Zarud,  253:  and  by  Tha'lablya,  Birkat  al-Marjum, 
al-Mashquq,  Zubala,  al-Ga,  the  ‘Devil’s  Pass’,  and 
Waqisa,  253:  and  by  Lawra,  al-Masajid,  Umm  Quran, 
al-‘Udhaib,  and  al-QadisIya,  255:  arrival  of  the  caravan 
at  al-Najaf,  the  mausoleum  and  its  tombs,  255:  one 
claimed  to  be  the  tomb  of  ‘All,  256:  the  Naqlb  al- 
Ashraf  (marshal  of  the  sharlfs)  governs  the  city  for  the 
King  of  ‘Iraq,  258:  story  of  the  sharlf  Abu  Ghurra,  his 
flight  from  ‘Iraq  to  Sind  and  to  India,  and  his  death, 

259:  Qasim,  brother  of  Abu  Ghurra,  ‘a  hero  of  heroes’, 

263 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  ..  ..  ..  ..  ••  ••  265 


Vll 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 
AND  MAPS 


The  Mosque  of  Mecca,  with  the  Ka'ba,  from  the  east  frontispiece 
Fig.  i.  Ibn  Battuta’s  itinerary  in  Syria  ..  ..  pagejo 

2.  Plan  of  Damascus  in  the  fourteenth  century  page  122 

3.  Ibn  Battuta’s  itineraries  in  Arabia  . .  facing  page  158 

4.  Plan  of  the  Mosque  of  Madina,  showing  the 
buildings  added  by  successive  Caliphs  . .  page  166 

5.  Plan  of  Mecca  . .  . .  . .  facing  page  190 

6.  Plan  of  the  Mosque  of  Mecca  . .  . .  page  192 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The  frontispiece,  from  a  photograph  taken  in  1901,  is 
reproduced  by  courtesy  of  the  Royal  Geographical 
Society. 

Fig.  2  is  adapted  from  the  plan  of  J.  Sauvaget, 
Les  monuments  historiques  de  Damas  (1932),  pi.  IV. 
Figs.  4,  5  and  6  are  based  on  the  plans  of  Eldon  Rutter, 
The  Holy  Cities  of  Arabia  (1938),  by  kind  permission  of 
the  publishers,  Messrs.  Putnam  &  Co.,  Ltd.  The  maps 
and  plans  have  been  drawn  by  Mr.  E.  C.  Jones. 


Vlll 


FOREWORD 


ALMOST  everything  that  is  known  of  the  life  and  per¬ 
sonality  of  Ibn  Ba  ttuta  is  derived  from  his  own  narra¬ 
tive  of  his  travels.  Only  one  brief  biographical  notice  of 
him  has  been  discovered  up  to  the  present;  this  is  quoted  from 
statements  by  the  vizier  of  Granada,  Ibn  al-Khatlb  (d.  1374), 
and  Ibn  Marzuq,  a  scholar  from  Tlemsen  who  became  Grand 
QadI  at  Cairo  (d.  1379),  *n  the  biographical  dictionary  of 
eminent  persons  of  the  eighth  century  of  the  Hijra  era, 
compiled  by  Ibn  Hajar  of  Ascalon  (d.  1448),  with  the  title  of 
Al-Durar  al-Kamina,  The  Concealed  Pearls’.  The  notice  is  as 
follows: 

Muhammad  b.  ‘Abdallah  b.  Muhammad  b.  Ibrahim  b. 
Muhammad  b.  Ibrahim  b.  Yusuf,  of  the  tribe  of  Luwata  and  the 
city  of  Tanja,  Abu  ‘Abdallah  Ibn  Battuta.  Ibn  al-Khatlb  says: 
He  had  a  modest  share  of  the  sciences,  and  journeyed  to  the 
East  in  Rajab  [seven  hundred  and]  twenty-five,  travelled 
through  its  lands,  penetrated  into  ‘Iraq  al-‘Ajam,  then  entered 
India,  Sind  and  China,  and  returned  through  al-Yaman.  He 
made  the  Pilgrimage  in  the  year  twenty-six,  and  met  a  great 
host  of  kings  and  shaikhs.  He  spent  some  time  [at  Mecca]  as  a 
‘sojourner’,  and  then  returned  to  India,  where  the  king  appointed 
him  to  the  office  of  qadl.  He  came  away  later  and  returned  to 
the  Maghrib,  where  he  related  his  doings  and  what  had  befallen 
him,  and  what  he  had  learned  of  its  people.  Our  shaikh  Abu’l- 
Barakat  Ibn  al-Balflqi  told  us  of  many  strange  things  which  he 
had  seen.  Among  them  was  that  he  claimed  to  have  entered 
Constantinople  and  to  have  seen  in  its  church  twelve  thousand 
bishops.  He  subsequently  crossed  the  Strait  to  the  [Spanish] 
coast  and  visited  the  Negrolands.  Thereafter  the  ruler  of  Fez 
summoned  him  and  commanded  him  to  commit  his  travels  to 
writing.  Ends. 

I  have  seen  in  the  handwriting  of  Ibn  Marzuq  [the  statement] 
that  Abu  ‘Abdallah  ibn  Juzayy  put  his  work  into  elegant  literary 
style  by  command  of  the  sultan  Abu  ‘Inan.  Al-Balfiqi  had 
charged  him  with  lying,  but  Ibn  Marzuq  cleared  him  of  the 
charge;  he  added  that  he  lived  to  the  year  70  (1368-9)  and  died 


IX 


FOREWORD 


while  holding  the  office  of  qadl  in  some  town  or  other.  Ibn 
Marzuq  said  also:  ‘And  I  know  of  no  person  who  has  journeyed 
through  so  many  lands  as  [he  did]  on  his  travels,  and  he  was 
withal  generous  and  welldoing’.  (Durar,  III,  480-1.) 

A  greater  contemporary,  the  historian  Ibn  Khaldun  (d. 
1406),  has  preserved  in  the  celebrated  Prolegomena  to  his 
history  an  eye-witness  account  of  his  reception  at  the  court 
of  Abu  ‘Inan,  and  of  the  scepticism  roused  by  his  astonishing 
stories  (although  these,  as  Ibn  al-Khaflb’s  notice  shows,  were 
sometimes  considerably  embellished  at  second  hand).  He  has, 
however,  nothing  to  say  of  the  man  himself,  and  no  other 
reference  to  him  is  known.  But  the  traveller  himself  more 
than  makes  up  for  this  deficiency.  Out  of  the  small  details 
and  reflexions  scattered  here  and  there  throughout  his  narra¬ 
tive  his  personality  and  temperament  are  gradually  revealed, 
with  such  candour  and  truth  to  life  that  at  the  end  the  reader 
knows  Ibn  Battuta  with  an  intimacy  seldom  equalled  in 
eastern  medieval  records. 

Born  at  Tangier  in  1304,  into  a  family  which  had  a  tradi¬ 
tion  of  judicial  service  as  qadis,  he  had  no  doubt  received  the 
usual  literary  and  scholastic  education  of  his  class  before 
setting  out,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  to  make  the  Pilgrimage 
to  Mecca.  The  Pilgrimage  was,  for  an  ambitious  youth,  not 
only  the  fulfilment  of  one  of  the  duties  laid  by  his  Faith  upon 
every  able-bodied  Muslim,  but  also  an  opportunity  to  broaden 
his  education  and  enhance  his  qualifications  for  judicial  office 
by  contact  and  study  with  the  famous  scholars  of  the  East. 
From  the  care  with  which  he  lists  the  scholars  and  saints 
whom  he  met,  especially  on  his  first  journey,  and  the  diplomas 
conferred  on  him  at  Damascus,  it  would  seem  that  this  was, 
indeed,  the  limit  of  Ibn  Battuta’s  original  purpose.  But  al¬ 
ready  on  his  way  through  Egypt  there  appear  in  his  narrative 
the  first  hints  of  what,  he  confesses,  was  to  become  his  ruling 
passion,  ‘to  travel  through  the  earth’.  After  reaching  Mecca 
for  his  first  Pilgrimage  by  way  of  Syria,  instead  of  remaining 
there  to  study,  he  spent  the  intervening  year  before  his 
second  in  further  exploration  of  the  classical  lands  of  Islamic 
culture.  Having  already  made  it  a  rule  ‘never,  so  far  as 
possible,  to  cover  a  second  time  any  road’  that  he  had  once 
travelled,  he  chose  a  complicated  route  through  southern 


x 


FOREWORD 


'Iraq  and  south-western  Persia  to  Baghdad,  and  thence 
travelled  to  Tabriz  and  northern  Mesopotamia  before  re¬ 
turning  via  Baghdad  to  Mecca. 

What  is  remarkable  about  this  second  journey  is  that,  still 
so  young,  he  is  beginning  to  be  a  person  of  consequence,  and 
this  from  the  moment  of  leaving  Mecca,  when  he  travelled  to 
Kufa  under  the  direct  protection  of  the  commander  of  the 
pilgrim  caravan.  He  is  interested  now  not  only  in  saints  and 
scholars,  but  quite  as  much  in  the  persons  and  histories  of  the 
sultans  on  his  way,  and  contrives  to  be  introduced  to  them 
and  to  benefit  from  their  customary  benevolences  to  the 
religious  profession  and  their  recommendations  to  their  sub¬ 
ordinates  on  his  behalf.  At  this  early  stage,  some  part  of  the 
favours  he  received  may  perhaps  be  attributed  to  curiosity 
and  interest  in  the  traveller  from  the  Far  West,  but  it  is 
evident  that  Ibn  Battuta  was  already  learning  the  ropes  for 
the  prosecution  of  his  design. 

Having  further  qualified  himself  by  spending  two  or  three 
years  more  at  Mecca,  his  third  journey  took  him,  now  with  a 
retinue  of  followers,  down  both  shores  of  the  Red  Sea  to 
Yemen,  where  he  met  the  monsoon  rains  for  the  first  time, 
then  from  Aden  to  the  trading  posts  on  the  coast  of  East 
Africa,  and  back  along  the  southern  coast  of  Arabia  to  Oman 
and  the  Persian  Gulf.  In  this  account  of  his  journey  into 
lesser-known  parts  his  awakened  curiosity  about  places  and 
the  customs  of  their  peoples  rather  than  in  pursuit  of  scholar¬ 
ship  becomes  still  more  apparent. 

Another  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  in  1332  by  his  own  dating, 
served  as  prelude  to  the  major  purpose  he  now  had  in  mind. 
The  fame  of  the  Sultan  of  India,  Muhammad  bin  Tughluq, 
and  of  his  apparently  limitless  generosity  to  foreign  scholars, 
was  an  irresistible  lure  to  a  man  of  Ibn  Battuta’s  character. 
But  fate  or  fortune  intervened.  Finding  no  ship  at  Jedda,  he 
turned  northwards  instead  and,  passing  through  Egypt  and 
Syria  again,  took  ship  at  Latakia  for  The  land  of  the  Turks’. 
His  journey  through  the  length  and  breadth  of  Asia  Minor, 
welcomed  and  befriended  by  the  numerous  sultans  and  local 
religious  brotherhoods,  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  sources  for 
the  history  of  that  country  at  the  beginning  of  the  Ottoman 
adventure.  Crossing  thence  from  Sinope  to  the  Crimea,  in  the 


xi 


FOREWORD 


territories  of  the  Khan  of  the  Golden  Horde,  he  travelled 
overland  to  the  Khan’s  camp  in  the  Caucasus.  After  inter¬ 
calating  a  dubious  visit  to  Bulghar,  the  ancient  capital  of 
Great  Bulgaria,  he  found  an  unexpected  opportunity  to  visit 
Constantinople  in  the  retinue  of  the  Khan’s  third  wife,  a 
Greek  princess  who  was  returning  on  a  visit  to  her  parents. 
The  journey  through  south  Russia  is  scrappily  described,  but 
of  his  experiences  at  Constantinople  itself  he  gives  a  lively 
and  curious  account.  Returning  in  winter  through  the  steppes 
to  Sarai,  the  capital  of  the  Golden  Horde,  he  now  set  out  on 
the  long  journey  to  India  overland,  through  Khiva,  Bukhara, 
Samarqand  and  Balkh,  and  thence  by  a  route  difficult  to 
follow  through  Khurasan  and  Afghanistan,  until  at  last  he 
reached  the  frontiers  of  India  on  the  Indus  river  on  12 
September  1333,  with  an  imposing  train  of  attendants. 

The  length  and  detail  of  Ibn  Battuta’s  description  of  India 
and  his  activities  and  travels  there  bear  their  own  witness  to 
the  deep  impress  which  they  made  upon  his  mind  and 
memory.  From  the  passage  of  Ibn  Khaldun  referred  to  above, 
it  can  be  inferred  that  it  was  his  stories  of  India  which  evoked 
the  greatest  scepticism  at  the  court  of  Fez.  But  there  is, 
indeed,  little  exaggeration  in  what  must  have  seemed  to  his 
Moroccan  hearers  as  fabulous  as  the  tales  of  Sinbad.  What  he 
has  to  say  on  the  court,  the  administration,  the  extraordinary 
personality  of  Sultan  Muhammad,  and  other  matters  of  con¬ 
temporary  history,  is  generally  borne  out  by  the  Indian  his¬ 
torians,  and  his  observations  on  social  customs  supplement 
them  with  a  mass  of  vivid  and  valuable  detail.  His  sinecure  as 
Malikite  Grand  Qddi  of  Delhi  lasted  for  several  years,  until 
the  all  but  inevitable  rupture  occurred.  By  good  fortune  Ibn 
Battuta  escaped  with  his  life,  and  was  shortly  afterwards 
restored  to  favour  and  selected  for  an  unusual  mission  as  the 
Sultan’s  envoy  to  the  Mongol  Emperor  of  China  in  1342. 

An  adventurous  journey  through  Central  India  and  down 
the  Malabar  coast  ended  in  disaster  at  Calicut.  Finding  little 
satisfaction  among  the  petty  sultans  of  Malabar,  he  chose  to 
go  to  the  Maldive  Islands,  spent  eighteen  months  there  as 
qddi,  but  eventually  found  it  expedient  to  leave  and  went  to 
Ceylon,  where  he  made  the  pilgrimage  to  the  ‘Foot  of  Adam’ 
on  Adam’s  Peak.  Further  desultory  travelling  on  the  Coro- 

xii 


FOREWORD 


mandel  and  Malabar  coasts  and  another  brief  visit  to  the 
Maldives  followed,  before  he  belatedly  resumed  his  mission  as 
envoy  to  China.  Since  he  had  still  some  months  to  wait  for 
the  sailing  season,  he  filled  in  time  by  a  visit  to  Bengal  and 
Assam,  and  thence  took  ship  for  Sumatra.  Here  he  was  pro¬ 
vided  by  the  Muslim  ruler  with  a  junk,  and  sailed  by  a  route 
that  has  taxed  the  ingenuity  of  his  commentators  to  the  great 
Chinese  port  known  to  the  medieval  travellers  as  Zaytun.  His 
further  travels  inside  China  as  far  as  Peking  are  more  briefly 
related  than  might  have  been  expected,  and  present  almost 
as  many  difficulties  and  problems. 

His  stay  in  China  was,  in  any  case,  a  relatively  short  one, 
and  on  returning  by  Sumatra  to  Malabar  in  1347  he  decided 
that  the  time  had  come  to  return  to  the  West.  The  homeward 
journey  is  briefly  told:  through  the  Persian  Gulf  to  Baghdad, 
and  thence  to  Syria  (where  he  witnessed  the  fearful  ravages  of 
the  ‘Black  Death’  of  1348)  and  through  Egypt  back  to  Mecca 
for  yet  another  Pilgrimage.  Returning  to  Egypt,  he  sailed 
from  Alexandria  to  Tunisia,  and  again  from  Tunis  by  Catalan 
ship  via  Sardinia  to  Tenes  in  Algiers,  thence  overland  to  Fez, 
with  not  a  few  alarms  on  both  sea  and  land. 

Even  yet,  however,  his  ambitions  were  not  satisfied.  After  a 
brief  stay  at  Fez  he  crossed  the  Strait  to  visit  Andalusia, 
where  the  kingdom  of  Granada  was  still  flourishing,  and  on 
returning  to  Morocco  set  out  on  what  was  probably  the  most 
adventurous  journey  of  all.  The  Muslim  Mandingos  had 
recently  built  up  a  powerful  negro  empire  on  the  Niger;  this 
was  the  object  of  Ibn  Battuta’s  last  journey,  involving  two 
hazardous  crossings  of  the  Sahara.  Here  again  his  narrative 
constitutes  a  major  source  for  the  history  of  West  Africa,  in 
addition  to  its  interest  for  its  own  sake.  With  his  return  to 
Fez  and  the  sultan’s  command  to  dictate  his  reminiscences  to 
the  secretary  Ibn  Juzayy,  Ibn  Battuta  passes  from  sight,  and 
one  can  only  guess  at  the  manner  in  which  he  passed  his  last 
years  as  a  qadl  ‘in  some  town  or  other’. 

Like  many  other  many-volumed  Arabic  works,  Ibn 
Battuta’s  Travels  circulated  in  later  times  mainly  in  abridged 
editions.  The  first  complete  translation  of  these  epitomes  was 
published  by  Samuel  Lee  in  the  Oriental  Translations  series 
in  1829,  under  the  title  of  The  Travels  of  Ibn  Batuta  translated 


xm 


FOREWORD 


from  the  abridged  Arabic  Manuscript  Copies,  with  extensive 
notes  by  the  translator.  In  the  following  years,  several  copies 
of  the  full  text  having  been  found  in  the  Maghrib,  it  was 
edited  with  a  French  translation  by  MM.  C.  Defremery  and 
B.  R.  Sanguinetti  for  the  Societe  Asiatique  in  four  volumes, 
Paris,  1853-8.  This  text,  with  its  apparatus  of  variant 
readings,  remains  the  standard  edition.  No  further  manu¬ 
scripts  have  become  accessible  in  later  years,  in  spite  of 
occasional  reports  of  their  existence  in  private  hands  in  the 
Maghrib,  nor  is  it  likely  that  any  new  manuscripts  would 
furnish  any  substantial  improvements.  Both  text  and  trans¬ 
lation  were  for  their  period  remarkable  achievements.  Critical 
editions  of  the  Travels  of  Ibn  Jubair  and  of  other  works  have 
since  made  it  possible  to  emend  a  number  of  readings,  and 
Dozy’s  great  Supplement  aux  dictionnaires  arabes  and  other 
lexical  aids  have  cleared  up  many  points  of  vocabulary,  but 
on  the  whole  the  work  of  Defremery  and  Sanguinetti  has 
stood  the  test  of  time. 

Their  edition  is  the  basis  of  the  present  translation.  It  has 
not  been  possible  to  re-examine  the  manuscripts  in  close 
detail,  but  a  few  MS  readings  have  been  checked,  and  in 
many  small  points  the  translation  will  be  found  to  depart 
from  that  of  the  French  editors.  It  should  be  said,  however, 
that  the  rendering  of  Ibn  Battuta’s  Arabic  presents  some 
peculiar  difficulties.  Since  it  is  reasonably  certain  that  he 
dictated  the  work  in  a  semi-spoken  style,  and  that  Ibn 
Juzayy  was  responsible  for  its  editing  in  literary  form,  there 
are  a  number  of  passages  in  which  it  is  difficult  to  be  sure  of 
the  precise  significance  of  certain  turns  of  phrase — whether, 
for  example,  to  translate  certain  terms  in  their  classical 
literary  sense  or  in  the  local  Moroccan  usage,  so  far  as  the 
latter  is  known.  The  present  translator  has  endeavoured  to 
compare  all  uses  of  such  terms  and  phrases  in  the  various 
passages  in  which  they  are  found,  but  some  of  them  still 
remain  doubtful,  and  are,  in  fact,  used  in  different  senses  here 
and  there. 

The  fragments  of  poetry  occasionally  quoted  by  Ibn 
Battuta  or  his  editor  have  been  rendered  as  far  as  possible 
faithfully,  but  (except  for  one  or  two)  with  some  semblance 
of  metre  and  rhyme.  The  external  decoration  is  almost  essen- 


xiv 


FOREWORD 


tial  if  anything  of  the  spirit  of  this  ornamented  art  is  to  be 
conveyed  in  translation,  and  if  the  results  are  often  trifling,  it 
must  be  pleaded  that  most  of  the  originals  are  themselves 
trifles. 

A  difficulty  of  another  kind  is  presented  by  the  problem  of 
Ibn  Battuta's  itinerary.  It  is  quite  certain  that  in  many 
sections  of  the  work  the  itineraries  are  artificial,  in  the  sense 
that  two  or  more  journeys  in  the  same  country,  Egypt,  Syria, 
or  India,  have  been  combined,  and  in  several  other  sections 
confused.  The  task  of  disentangling  them  is  all  but  hopeless, 
and  what  can  be  said  on  the  subject  will,  it  is  proposed,  be 
be  set  out  in  a  terminal  essay.  For  the  present,  such  indica¬ 
tions  as  mav  be  found  in  the  text  from  time  to  time  are 

j 

pointed  out  in  the  notes.  In  lieu  of  a  general  introduction  to 
the  present  translation,  attention  may  be  drawn  to  the 
excellent  study  by  Herman  F.  Janssens,  Ibn  Batoutah,  ‘ Le 
Voyageur  de  V Island,  published  in  the  Collection  Lebegue, 
Brussels  1948. 

The  annotation  of  the  text  has  been  made  as  full  as  possible 
without  entering  into  excessive  detail.  Besides  the  geo¬ 
graphical  identifications,  all  technical  terms,  customs  and 
allusions  have  been,  it  is  hoped,  sufficiently  explained  to 
render  the  narrative  fulty  intelligible.  In  addition,  an  effort 
has  been  made  to  identify  most  of  the  persons  mentioned  in 
the  text,  not  so  much  for  academic  reasons,  as  because  the 
biographical  confrontation  may  from  time  to  time  help  to 
clear  up  points  relating  to  the  itineraries,  and  at  the  same 
time  constitutes  valuable  evidence  of  the  veracity  and 
precision  of  the  narrative.  It  will  be  seen  that  Ibn  Battuta 
occasionally  makes,  in  regard  to  the  names  or  titles  of  persons 
whom  he  mentions,  slips  and  errors  similar  to  those  which 
occur  in  the  names  of  places.  They  are,  however,  remarkably 
few,  at  least  in  this  first  volume.  The  chief  sources  used  for 
checking  the  biographical  data  were: 

Ibn  Hajar,  al-Durar  al-Kamina,  biographical  dictionary 
covering  the  eighth  century  a.h.  (fourteenth  century 
a.d.)  in  4  volumes,  Hyderabad-Deccan,  1348-50/1929-31 
(cited  as  Durar). 

Ibn  Taghribirdi,  al-Nujum  al-Zahira,  a  history  of  Egypt  in  12 
volumes,  vols.  IX-X,  Cairo  1942-9  (cited  as  Nujum). 


xv 


FOREWORD 


Ibn  Taghrlbirdl,  al-Manhal  al-Safl,  biographical  dictionary, 
summarized  by  G.  Wiet,  Les  biographies  du  Manhal  Safi , 
Cairo  1932  (cited  as  Manhal). 

‘Abd  al-Qadir  al-Nu'aimi,  al-Daris  fi  tankh  al-Madaris,  a 
history  of  the  colleges  of  Damascus  in  2  volumes,  Damascus 
1948-51  (cited  as  Daris). 

Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  der  M  amlukensultane  in  den  Jahren 
690-741  der  Higra  nach  arabischen  Handschriften,  Egyptian 
historical  diaries,  edited  by  K.  V.  Zettersteen,  Leiden  1919 
(cited  as  Zettersteen). 

Two  other  works  are  occasionally  cited  by  abbreviations  in 
the  notes: 

Encyclopaedia  of  Islam,  edited  by  M.  Th.  Houtsma  et  al.,  4 
volumes  and  supplement,  Leiden  1913-38.  New  edition  in 
course  of  preparation,  Leiden  1954-  .  (Cited  as  E.  I.) 

Ibn  Battuta  s  Travels  in  Asia  and  Africa,  translated  and  selected 
by  H.  A.  R.  Gibb,  London  (Broadway  Travellers  series)  1929. 
(Cited  as  Selections.) 

The  numbers  printed  in  the  margin  refer  to  the  pages  of  the 
edition  of  the  Arabic  text  by  Def remery  and  Sanguinetti ,  Vol .  1 . 
The  division  into  chapters  is  an  arbitrary  addition  to  the  text, 
for  the  convenience  of  modern  readers. 


April  1957 


H.  A.  R.  GIBB 


ABBREVIATIONS 


BSOAS 

Daris 

Durar 

E.I. 

Geogr.  J. 
JR  AS 
Nujum 
Selections 

ZDMG 

ZDPV 

Zettersteen 


Bulletin  of  the  School  of  Oriental  and  African  Studies , 
London. 

al-Daris  fi  tarikh  al-Madaris.  By  ‘Abd  al-Qadir  al- 
Nu‘aiml. 

al-Durar  al-Kamina.  By  Ibn  Hajar  al-'Askalani. 

Encyclopaedia  of  Islam. 

Geographical  Journal,  London. 

Journal  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  London. 

al-Nujum  al-Zahira.  By  Ibn  Taghribirdl. 

Ibn  Battuta  s  Travels  in  Asia  and  Africa.  Translated 
and  selected  by  H.  A.  R.  Gibb. 

Zeitschrift  der  deutschen  morgenlandischen  Gesellschaft, 
Berlin. 

Zeitschrift  des  deutschen  Palastina-Vereins ,  Berlin. 

Beitrage  zur  Geschichte  der  M amlukensultane  in  den 
Jahren  690-741  der  Higra.  Edited  by  K.  V. 
Zettersteen. 


B 


XVII 


T.O.I.B. 


: 


. 


' 


Ibn  Juzayy’s  Introduction 
in  which  the  origin  and  compilation 
of  the  book  is  set  forth 

IN  THE  NAME  OF  GOD  THE  MERCIFUL  ONE 


THE  COMPASSIONATE 


hese  are  the  words  of  the  learned  doctor  of  law,  the 


trustworthy,  illustrious,  godly  and  most  pious  shaikh, 


A  the  guest  of  God  and  visitor  to  His  sanctuary,1  the 
honour  of  the  Faith,  who  in  his  travels  stayed  himself  upon 
the  Lord  of  the  Universe,  Abu  'Abdallah  Muhammad  ibn 
‘Abdallah  ibn  Muhammad  ibn  Ibrahim  al-Lawati  |  al-Tanji,2 
known  as  Ibn  Battuta,  may  God  have  mercy  on  him  and 
be  pleased  with  him  through  His  grace  and  bounty.  Amen. 


Amen. 


Praise  be  to  God,3  Who  hath  subdued  the  earth  to  His 
servants  that  they  may  tread  spacious  ways  therein,  and  hath 
ordained  therefrom  and  thereunto  their  three  stages  of 
growth,  return,  and  extraction;4  Who  hath  spread  it  out  by 
His  power  so  that  it  became  as  a  smooth  bed  for  His  servants, 
and  hath  held  it  firm  by  immovable  ranges  and  mountains, 
and  raised  above  it  the  canopy  of  the  sky  without  pillars; 
Who  hath  made  the  stars  to  rise  for  guidance  in  the  dark¬ 
nesses  of  land  and  sea,  and  hath  set  the  moon  as  a  light  and 
the  sun  as  a  lamp;  Who  hath  made  also  water  to  descend  from 
the  heavens  and  hath  revived  the  earth  therewith  after  its 

1 1.e.  who  has  made  the  Pilgrimage  to  Mecca. 

2 1.e.  descended  from  the  Berber  tribe  of  Lawata,  and  native  of  Tangier 
(Arabic,  Tanja). 

3  Here  follow  the  praises  and  invocations  to  God,  the  Prophet,  and  the 
Prophet’s  house  and  Companions,  with  which  all  Muslim  literary  works 
open.  These  passages  are  written  in  rhyming  prose,  and  consist  mainly  of 
phrases  from  and  allusions  to  the  Qur’an,  combined  in  a  manner  appro¬ 
priate  to  the  subject-matter  of  the  work  in  hand. 

4  I.e.  birth,  burial,  and  resurrection. 


IBN  JUZAYY'S  INTRODUCTION 

death  and  hath  made  fruits  of  every  sort  to  grow  thereon; 
Who  hath  created  its  regions  with  diversities  of  plants  and 
made  channels  for  the  two  seas,  fresh  sweet  water  and  bitter 

3  salt  water;  Who  hath  made  perfect  his  bounty  |  towards  His 
creatures  by  subduing  the  beasts  of  the  field  for  their 
carriage  and  the  vessels  upraised  like  mountains  to  their 
control  that  they  may  bestride  the  ridge  of  the  wilderness  and 
ride  upon  the  deeps  of  the  ocean. 

May  God  visit  with  His  Blessing  our  lord  and  master 
Muhammad,  His  Apostle,  who  made  plain  for  His  creatures 
an  Highway  and  brought  the  light  of  His  guidance  to  shine 
forth  in  splendour;  whom  God  Most  High  sent  as  a  token  of 
mercy  to  the  worlds  and  chose  to  be  seal  to  the  Prophets; 
whose  falchions  He  empowered  over  the  necks  of  the  poly¬ 
theists  so  that  the  peoples  entered  into  the  Faith  of  God  in 
multitudes;  whom  He  aided  by  surpassing  miracles,  giving 
speech  to  inanimate  things  that  they  might  testify  to  the 
truth  of  his  mission,  restoring  life  at  his  prayer  to  rotten 
bones,  and  causing  water  to  gush  forth  from  between  his 
fingers.5 

May  God  Most  High  be  pleased  with  those  who  are  en¬ 
nobled  by  claim  to  association  with  him,  as  companions, 
descendants,  and  wives;6  who  made  straight  the  lance  of  the 

4  Faith  |  so  that  we  should  not  fear  crookedness  after  them; 
for  these  are  they  who  seconded  him  in  striving  against  the 
enemies  of  the  Faith,  and  aided  him  to  the  triumph  of  the 
unspotted  religion;  who  carried  out  its  noble  obligations  of 
emigration,  succour,  and  asylum,7  and  who  threw  themselves 
in  his  defence  into  a  burning  fire  of  war  and  plunged  into  a 
boisterous  sea  of  death. 

We  pray  God  Most  High  for  our  master,  the  Caliph-Imam, 
the  Commander  of  the  Faithful,  who  places  his  trust  in  God 
the  Lord  of  the  Universe,  who  strives  [against  the  infidels]  in 

6  A  reference  to  three  of  the  most  popular  miracles  ascribed  to  Muhammad. 
A  tree  or  trees,  it  is  said,  audibly  saluted  him  as  the  Messenger  of  God;  he 
restored  to  life  a  sheep  which  had  just  been  eaten  by  his  companions;  and 
when  on  an  expedition  his  troops  were  afflicted  with  thirst,  water  spouted 
from  his  fingers  in  such  quantities  as  to  suffice  for  all. 

6  The  writer,  being  a  strict  Sunni,  puts  the  Companions  above  the  Family. 

7  Referring  to  those  citizens  of  Mecca  who  accompanied  or  followed  the 
Prophet  in  his  emigration  (muhajirun) ,  and  the  citizens  of  al-Madlna  who 
aided  and  welcomed  him  and  them  ( ansar );  see  p.  167,  n.  51. 

2 


IBN  JUZAYY’S  INTRODUCTION 

the  Path  of  God,  who  is  strengthened  by  the  help  of  God, 
Abu  Tnan  Faris,8  the  descendant  of  our  masters  the  rightly 
guided  Imams  and  orthodox  Caliphs,  that  He  will  bestow 
upon  him  such  succour  as  will  fill  the  world  and  its  peoples 
with  joy,  and  such  prosperity  as  will  prove  a  remedy  for  the 
crippling  disease  of  the  age,  as  He  hath  bestowed  upon  him 
might  which  hath  spared  no  oppressor  and  generosity  which 
hath  neglected  no  needy  one,  and  hath  made  by  his  sword  and 
his  beneficence  |  a  means  of  issue  from  every  distress. 

To  proceed,  it  has  been  pronounced  by  all  intellects  and 
determined  by  arguments  which  appeal  to  reason  and  to 
traditional  lore  that  this  sublime  and  Faith-championing 
Caliphate  of  Faris  al-Mutawakkil  is  indeed  the  Shadow  of 
God  which  is  extended  over  mankind,9  and  His  rope  whereon 
to  lay  hold,10  and  in  the  ranks  of  obedience  to  whom  it  is 
incumbent  to  range  oneself.  For  this  Caliphate  it  is  which  has 
brought  healing  to  the  Faith  in  its  hour  of  sickening,  and  has 
forced  back  into  its  scabbard  the  sword  of  hostility  in  its  hour 
of  unsheathing,  which  has  restored  soundness  to  the  days 
after  they  had  fallen  into  disorder,  and  brought  back  pros¬ 
perity  to  the  bazaar  of  learning  after  it  had  grown  sluggish, 
which  has  made  plain  the  ways  of  piety  when  they  were 
obliterated,  and  restored  tranquillity  to  the  regions  of  the 
earth  when  they  were  in  commotion,  which  has  brought  to 
life  the  ancient  usages  of  generosity  after  their  death,  and  has 
put  to  death  the  practices  of  tyranny  after  their  flourishing 
life,  which  has  extinguished  the  fire  of  discord  at  its  moment 


8  Sultan  of  Morocco,  1348-58,  and  the  first  of  the  Marlnid  line  to  assume 
the  style  of  the  caliphate  and  a  throne-title,  al-Mutawakkil  ‘ alallah,  ‘He 
who  places  his  trust  in  God’. 

9  The  extinction  of  the  ‘Abbasid  caliphate  at  Baghdad  in  1256  led  to 
many  claims  by  other  rulers  to  the  vacant  dignity,  and  in  particular  by  the 
Hafsid  kings  (descended  from  the  former  Almohad  sultans  of  Morocco)  who 
ruled  in  Tunis.  Their  claim  is  here  rejected  in  favour  of  Abu  ‘Irian,  as  being 
the  only  ruler  who  fulfils  the  legal  and  traditional  qualifications  for  the 
caliphate.  For  all  other  temporal  rulers,  great  and  small  alike,  Muslim  and 
also  non-Muslim,  Ibn  Battuta  uses  the  non-committal  term  ‘sultan’ 
(properly  sultan),  which  implied  only  de  facto  possession  of  temporal 
authority.  For  the  diplomatic  activities  of  the  Marinids  to  assert  their  pre¬ 
tensions  to  the  caliphate,  see  M.  Canard  in  Annales  de  VInstitut  d’ Etudes 
Orientates,  Algiers,  V  (1939-41),  74-5.  7^* 

10  An  allusion  to  Qur’an,  iii,  98:  ‘Lay  hold  on  the  rope  of  God  in  unani¬ 
mity  and  fall  not  into  division.’ 


3 


IBN  JUZAYY’s  INTRODUCTION 

of  flaming,  and  overthrown  the  judgments  of  iniquity  in  their 
hour  of  undisputed  rule,  which  has  raised  the  edifices  of 

6  rectitude  upon  the  pillars  of  God-fearing,  |  and  has  laid  firm 
hold  of  the  strongest  stay  by  placing  its  trust  in  God.11 
Wherefore  it  is  conjoined  with  majesty  whose  crown  is  bound 
upon  the  temples  of  the  Twins,  and  with  glory  that  sweeps 
with  its  skirts  the  Galaxy  of  heaven;  with  fortune  that  has 
restored  to  time  the  freshness  of  its  youth,  and  with  justice 
that  has  extended  its  protection  to  the  household  of  the 
Faith;12  with  generosity  the  distillation  of  whose  clouds  is 
fine  silver  and  pure  gold,  and  with  might  the  outpouring  of 
whose  mists  is  a  rain  of  streaming  blood;  with  divine  aid  the 
scatterings  of  whose  squadrons  are  doom,  and  with  heavenly 
support  but  a  part  of  whose  spoils  are  empires;  with  vigour 
whose  sword  anticipates  reproach,  and  with  patience  in 
whose  presence  hope  grows  not  weary;  with  resolution  which 
forbids  to  its  enemies  the  well-watered  pasturages,  and  with 
firmness  of  purpose  which  scatters  their  hosts  ere  the  shock  of 
its  squadrons;  with  forbearance  which  gathers  a  harvest  of 
righteousness  from  the  fruit-trees  of  misdeeds,  and  with 

7  compassion  |  which  moves  the  thoughts  of  all  hearts  to  unite 
in  affection  towards  it;  with  knowledge  whose  light  dispels 
the  glooms  of  enigmas,  and  with  an  equity  which  is  bounded 
by  singleness  of  mind,  since  ‘actions  are  to  be  judged  by 
their  intentions’.13 

When  his  Sublime  Residence  became  the  cynosure  of  hopes 
and  the  pasturage  of  men’s  aspirations,  the  depository  of  the 
merchandise  of  the  virtues  and  concourse  of  the  security  of 
the  affrighted  and  of  the  desire  of  the  suppliant,  the  age 
sought  to  do  homage  to  it  by  offering  the  choicest  of  its  gifts 
and  the  rarest  of  its  treasures,  so  that  men  of  learning 
streamed  to  it  as  its  copious  rains  [of  generosity]  stream  down 
upon  noble  qualities,  and  men  of  letters  contended  in 

11  A  play  upon  Abu  Tnan’s  throne-title;  see  above,  p.  3,  n.  9. 

12  Literally,  ‘has  extended  its  outstretched  guy-ropes  over  the  people  of 
the  Faith’,  in  allusion  to  the  ancient  Arab  custom  whereby  a  suppliant 
claimed  protection  from  a  chief  by  grasping  the  guy-ropes  of  his  tent. 

13  Quoting  the  famous  saying  attributed  to  Muhammad  with  which  the 
canonical  collection  of  Traditions,  the  Sahih  of  al-Bukhari,  opens.  The 
panegyrist  means  that  even  if  all  his  actions  may  not  have  a  happy  issue, 
they  deserve  praise  since  his  intentions  are  always  good. 

4 


IBN  JUZAYY's  INTRODUCTION 

hastening  to  it  as  its  resolves  contend  with  one  another  [in 
bounty]  towards  the  fulfilling  of  promises.  The  enlightened 
made  pilgrimage  to  its  illustrious  sanctuary,  and  travellers 
set  themselves  to  seek  access  to  its  high-storied  abode;14  the 
fearful  sought  a  citadel  of  refuge15  in  the  might  of  its  majesty, 
and  kings  sought  for  protection  by  homage  to  its  gates. 
It  is  the  pole  upon  which  revolves  the  axis  of  the  world, 
and  in  conviction  of  its  pre-eminence  |  the  intuitive  judgment  s 
of  ignorant  and  learned  is  unanimous;  its  surpassing  glories 
are  related  in  unimpeachable  narratives  for  which  every 
Muslim  stands  guarantor,  and  the  perfection  of  its  trans¬ 
parent  virtues  is  eloquently  attested  by  every  informer. 

There  was,  among  those  who  resorted  to  its  illustrious 

Gate,  and  who  passed  over  the  trickles  of  other  lands  to 

approach  its  swelling  sea,  the  Shaikh  learned  in  the  Law,  the 

most  trustworthy  and  veracious  traveller,  the  ranger  of  the 

earth  and  traverser  of  its  climes  in  length  and  breadth,  Abu 

‘Abdallah  Muhammad  ibn  ‘Abdallah  ibn  Muhammad  ibn 

•  • 

Ibrahim  al-Lawatl  al-Tanjl,  known  as  Ibn  Battuta,  and  in 
the  Eastern  lands  as  Shams  al-DIn.  He,  who  had  encom¬ 
passed  the  earth  with  attentive  mind  and  travelled  through 
its  cities  with  observant  eye,  and  who  had  investigated  the 
diversities  of  nations  and  probed  the  ways  of  life  of  Arabs 
and  non-Arabs,  thereafter  laid  down  the  staff  of  the  much- 
travelled  in  this  Sublime  Residence,  by  reason  of  his  know¬ 
ledge  that  to  it  belonged  the  distinction  of  superiority 
without  qualification  |  or  exception;  he  journeyed  through  the  9 
Eastern  lands  towards  the  rising-place  of  its  full  moon  in  the 
West,  and  gave  it  in  comparison  with  other  regions  the 
preference  which  is  given  to  gold  dust  over  sand,  by  free 
choice  after  long  experience  of  countries  and  of  men,  and 
from  a  desire  to  attach  himself  to  that  community  which 
remains  attached  to  the  True  Faith.  Whereupon  there  over¬ 
whelmed  him  such  a  portion  of  his16  copious  beneficence  and 
of  his  solicitous  and  unstinted  favour  as  caused  him  to  forget 
the  past  in  the  present  and  relieved  him  of  the  need  for  dis¬ 
tant  travel,  which  made  contemptible  in  his  eyes  that  which 

14 1  read  maghnaha  for  ma'nciha ;  also  below  tasawat  for  tasawarat. 

16  Literally,  ‘sought  a  refuge  in  inaccessibility  by  the  support  of’. 

16 1.e.  of  the  Sultan  Abu  ‘Inan. 


5 


IBN  JUZAYY’S  INTRODUCTION 

he  was  wont  to  find  imposing  from  the  hands  of  others  and 
confirmed  in  him  the  belief  which  he  had  formed  of  his  pre¬ 
eminence;  wherefore  he  forsook  the  wandering  existence  to 
which  he  had  become  habituated  and  after  long  search  for 
pasture  gained  at  length  the  fruitful  meadow. 

A  gracious  direction  was  transmitted  that  he  should  dictate 
an  account  of  the  cities  which  he  had  seen  in  his  travel,  and 
of  the  interesting  events  which  had  clung  to  his  memory,  and 
that  he  should  speak  of  those  whom  he  had  met  of  the  rulers 

10  of  countries,  of  their  distinguished  men  of  learning,  |  and  of 
their  pious  saints.  Accordingly,  he  dictated  upon  these  sub¬ 
jects  a  narrative  which  gave  entertainment  to  the  mind  and 
delight  to  the  ears  and  eyes,  with  a  variety  of  curious  par¬ 
ticulars  by  the  exposition  of  which  he  gave  edification  and  of 
marvellous  things  by  adverting  to  which  he  aroused  interest. 
The  exalted  command  issued  to  the  slave  of  their  illustrious 
Highness,  who  has  attached  himself  with  singleness  of  mind 
to  their  Gate,  and  is  honoured  with  employment  in  the  service 
of  their  Majesty,  Muhammad  ibn  Muhammad  ibn  Juzayy 
al-Kalbl17  (may  God  aid  him  to  serve  them  and  inspire  him  to 
gratitude  for  their  bounty),  that  he  should  assemble  that 
which  the  Shaikh  Abu  ‘Abdallah  had  dictated  on  these 
subjects  into  a  compilation  which  should  comprehend  what 
was  of  profit  in  them  and  ensure  the  full  attainment  of  their 
objects,  giving  care  to  the  pruning  and  polishing  of  its 
language  and  applying  himself  to  its  clarification  and  adapta¬ 
tion  to  the  taste  [of  readers],  that  they  might  find  enjoyment 
in  these  curiosities  and  that  the  profit  to  be  derived  from  their 

11  pearls  should  be  increased  in  |  stripping  them  from  their  shell. 
He  therefore  set  himself  straightway  to  execute  the  command 
laid  upon  him,  and  went  down  to  draw  from  his  [Ibn 
Battuta’s]  spring,  that  he  might  by  the  aid  of  God  faithfully 
accomplish  this  design. 

I  have  rendered  the  sense  of  the  narrative  of  the  Shaikh 
Abu  ‘Abdallah  in  language  which  adequately  expresses  the 
purposes  that  he  had  in  mind  and  sets  forth  clearly  the  ends 

17  Born  1321,  died  1356  or  1358,  of  the  Arab  tribe  of  Kalb,  which  had 
established  itself  in  the  region  of  Granada  at  the  time  of  the  Arab  conquest 
of  southern  Spain  in  the  eighth  century.  He  was  a  noted  scholar,  one  of  the 
teachers  of  Lisan  al-Din  Ibn  al-Khatib,  and  the  author  of  several  works  on 
law  and  theology. 


6 


IBN  JUZAYY'S  INTRODUCTION 

which  he  had  in  view.  Frequently  I  have  reported  his  words 
in  his  own  phrasing,  without  omitting  either  root  or  branch.  I 
have  related  all  the  anecdotes  and  historical  narratives  which 
he  related,  without  applying  myself  to  investigate  their 
truthfulness  or  to  test  them,  since  he  himself  has  adopted  the 
soundest  methods  of  authenticating  those  of  them  that  are 
wholly  acceptable,  and  has  disclaimed  responsibility  for  the 
rest  of  them  by  expressions  which  give  warning  to  that  effect. 

I  have  registered  by  means  of  vowel  signs  and  diacritical 
points  [the  pronunciation  of]  those  names  of  places  and  of 
men  which  offer  difficulties,  in  order  that  it  might  be  more 
useful  in  ensuring  accuracy  and  in  fixing  the  orthography, 
and  I  have  expounded  in  detail  all  those  that  I  could 
expound  of  |  the  non- Arabic  names,  since  they  are  confusing  12 
to  people  by  reason  of  their  foreignness,  and  the  ordinary 
rules  of  analogy  lead  to  error  in  solving  their  cryptographs. 
And  I  for  my  part  hope  that  what  I  have  sought  to  do  will 
meet  with  acceptance  from  his  Sublime  Majesty,  God  be  his 
strength,  and  that  I  may  obtain  the  indulgence  which  I  crave 
in  overlooking  its  deficiencies,  for  they  have  accustomed  men 
to  look  for  kindly  forbearance  from  them,18  and  their  generous 
qualities  are  a  guarantee  for  the  forgiveness  of  faults.  May 
God  Most  High  confirm  to  them  for  ever  His  wonted  help  and 
empowering,  and  requite  them  with  the  benefits  of  His 
support  and  with  glorious  victory. 

18  Literally,  ‘their  use  and  wont  in  regard  to  forbearance  is  characterized 
by  kindliness’,  the  plural  pronoun  in  this  and  the  following  clauses  (as  in  a 
previous  passage)  being  the  plural  of  majesty  applied  to  the  sultan. 


7 


CHAPTER  I 


North-West  Africa  and  Egypt 

The  Shaikh  Abu  ‘Abdallah  [Ibn  Battuta]  related  as 
follows: 

My  departure  from  Tangier,  my  birthplace,  took 
place  on  Thursday  the  second  of  the  month  of  God,  Rajab 
the  Unique,  in  the  year  seven  hundred  and  twenty-five,1  with 
the  object  of  making  the  Pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  House  [at 
Mecca]  and  of  visiting  the  tomb  of  the  Prophet,  God’s  richest 
blessing  and  peace  be  on  him  [at  Madina].  I  set  out  alone, 
having  neither  fellow-traveller  in  whose  companionship  I 
i3  might  find  cheer,  |  nor  caravan  whose  party  I  might  join,  but 
swayed  by  an  overmastering  impulse  within  me  and  a  desire 
long-cherished  in  my  bosom  to  visit  these  illustrious 
sanctuaries.  So  I  braced  my  resolution  to  quit  all  my 
dear  ones,  female  and  male,  and  forsook  my  home  as  birds 
forsake  their  nests.  My  parents  being  yet  in  the  bonds  of 
life,  it  weighed  sorely  upon  me  to  part  from  them,  and 
both  they  and  I  were  afflicted  with  sorrow  at  this  separation. 
My  age  at  that  time  was  twenty- two  [lunar]  years.  (Note 
by  Ibn  Juzayy.2  Abu  ‘Abdallah  told  me  in  the  city  of 
Granada  that  he  was  born  at  Tangier  on  Tuesday  17th 
Rajab  al-Fard  of  the  year  seven  hundred  and  three  [25 
February  1304].) 

(Resumes.)  The  beginning  of  my  journey  was  in  the  days  of 
the  Commander  of  the  Faithful,  the  Defender  of  the  Faith,  the 

1  Rajab  ('Awe’)  the  seventh  month  of  the  Muhammadan  year  was  in 
ancient  Arabia  a  sacred  month,  dedicated  to  the  Meccan  Pilgrimage  or 
‘Umra,  and  this  character  was  to  some  extent  carried  over  into  Islam.  The 
Muhammadan  year  ( Annus  Hegirae)  725  began  on  or  about  18  December 
1324;  according  to  the  astronomical  calendar  Rajab  should  have  begun  on 
Thursday  13  June  1325,  but  being  dependent  on  local  observation  of  the 
moon  it  varied  from  place  to  place,  and  was  evidently  considered  in  Tangier 
to  have  begun  on  Wednesday  12  June. 

2  The  compiler  of  the  text;  see  p.  6,  n.  17. 

8 


TLEMSEN 


Warrior  in  the  cause  of  the  Lord  of  the  Worlds,  the  reports  of 
whose  bounty  have  been  handed  down  by  linked  chains  of 
first-hand  authorities  and  the  traditions  of  whose  muni¬ 
ficence  have  acquired  a  celebrity  which  bears  clear  testi¬ 
mony,  |  by  the  ornaments  of  whose  merit  the  days  were  i4 
adorned  and  in  the  shadow  of  whose  clemency  and  justice  all 
men  enjoyed  abundance,  the  sanctified  Imam  Abu  Sa'Id,  son 
of  our  master,  the  Commander  of  the  Faithful,  the  Defender 
of  the  Faith,  the  straightness  of  whose  resolves  notched  the 
blade  of  polytheism  and  the  channels  of  whose  scimitars 
extinguished  the  fire  of  infidelity,  whose  squadrons  wrought 
havoc  among  the  worshippers  of  the  Cross  and  whose  actions 
were  nobly  governed  by  single-minded  devotion  to  the  Holy 
War,  the  sanctified  Imam  Abu  Yusuf,  son  of  ‘Abd  al-Haqq — 
may  God  renew  His  gracious  pleasure  with  them  and  from  the 
clouds  of  His  liberality  may  His  soft  dews  and  gentle  rains 
water  their  sanctified  tombs,  may  He  reward  them  with 
richest  reward  on  behalf  of  Islam  and  the  Muslims  and 
maintain  the  kingship  in  their  posterity  until  the  Day  of 
Judgment.3 

I  came  then  to  the  city  of  Tilimsan  [Tlemsen],  the  sultan 
of  which  at  that  time  was  Abu  Tashifm  'Abd  al-Rahman  b. 
Musa  b.  ‘Othman  b.  Yaghmurasan  Ibn  Zayyan,4  and  my 
arrival  chanced  to  coincide  with  the  visit  of  the  two  envoys  of 
the  king  of  Africa,  |  the  sultan  Abu  Yahya  (God’s  mercy  15 

3  Abu  Sa'id  ‘Othman  (1310-31),  grandfather  of  the  reigning  sultan  Abu 
'Inan,  was  the  younger  son  of  Abu  Yusuf  Ya'qub  (1258-86),  who  brought 
final  success  to  the  Marinid  movement  initiated  by  his  father  'Abd  al-Haqq 
(d.  1217)  and  his  elder  brothers.  Having  captured  Marrakesh  in  1269  from 
its  former  Almohad  sultan,  subdued  Sijilmasa  and  Tafilalt  in  1272,  and 
founded  the  city  of  New  Fez,  Abu  Yusuf  devoted  the  last  years  of  his  reign 
to  the  defence  of  Granada  against  the  Castilian  kings,  Alfonso  X  and  Sancho 
IV.  He  gained  a  notable  victory  at  Ecija  in  1275,  recovered  possession  of 
Tarifa,  Cadiz,  and  other  places,  and  died  at  Algeciras,  leaving  a  glorious 
name. 

4  The  weakening  of  the  Sanhaja  Almohads  in  Morocco  had  allowed  the 
rival  Berber  stock  of  the  Zenata  to  recover  their  independence  in  western 
Algeria  under  the  leadership  of  the  house  of  Zayyan,  founded  by  Yagh¬ 
murasan  (reigned  1239-83),  with  their  capital  at  Tilimsan.  The  dynasty  of 
the  Zayyanids  or  ‘Abd  al-Wadids  was  constantly  at  war  with  its  Marinid 
rivals  in  Morocco  and  the  Hafsid  sultans  of  Tunis.  Abu  Tashifm  (1318-37) 
was  for  most  of  his  reign  engaged  in  hostilities  with  the  latter,  and  his 
authority  extended  at  this  time  as  far  as  Algiers  (then  a  place  of  minor 
importance) . 


9 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

upon  him).5  These  were  the  qadl  for  marriages  in  the  city  of 
Tunis,  namely  Abu  ‘Abdallah  Muhammad  b.  Abl  Bakr  b. 
Ibrahim  al-NafzawI,  and  the  pious  shaikh  Abu  ‘Abdallah 
Muhammad  b.  al-Husain  b.  ‘Abdallah  al-Qurashl  al-Zubaidl, 
an  ethnic  derived  from  a  village  [Zubaid]  on  the  coast  near 
al-Mahdlya.  He  was  one  of  the  eminent  scholars  [of  his  time] 
and  died  in  the  year  40  [1339-40]. 

On  the  day  of  my  arrival  at  Tilimsan  these  two  envoys  left 
the  town,  and  one  of  the  brethren  advised  me  to  travel  in 
their  company.  I  consulted  the  will  of  Almighty  God6  in 
regard  to  this  and  after  a  stay  of  three  nights  in  Tilimsan  to 
procure  what  I  needed,  I  left,  riding  after  them  with  all  speed, 
and  on  reaching  the  town  of  Milyana7  overtook  them  there. 
This  was  in  the  time  of  the  summer  heats,  and  both  of  the 
doctors  of  the  law  fell  sick,  on  account  of  which  we  stopped 
for  a  space  of  ten  nights.  We  then  set  out  again,  but  the 
16  illness  of  one  of  them,  the  qadl,  had  taken  a  serious  turn,  |  so 
we  stopped  for  three  nights  by  a  stream  at  a  distance  of  four 
miles  from  Milyana.  The  qadl  breathed  his  last  in  the  fore¬ 
noon  of  the  fourth  day,  and  his  son  Abu'l-Tayyib  and  col¬ 
league  Abu  ‘Abdallah  al-Zubaidl  returned  to  Milyana  and 
buried  him  there.  I  left  them  at  this  point  and  pursued  my 
journey  with  a  company  of  merchants  from  Tunis,  amongst 
them  being  al-Hajj8  Mas‘ud  b.  al-Muntasir,  al-Hajj  al- 
‘Adull,  and  Muhammad  b.  al-Hajar.  On  reaching  the  town  of 
al-Jaza/ir  [Algiers]  we  camped  outside  it  for  some  days,  until 
the  shaikh  Abu  ‘Abdallah  and  the  son  of  the  qadl  arrived, 
when  we  went  on  together  through  the  Mitija  to  the  Moun¬ 
tain  of  Oaks9  and  so  reached  the  town  of  Bijaya  [Bougie]. 
The  shaikh  Abu  ‘Abdallah  lodged  in  the  house  of  the  qadl  of 

5  Africa  (Arabic:  Ifriqiya)  comprised  modern  Tunisia  and  eastern  Algeria. 
For  Abu  Yahya  see  p.  14,  n.  22. 

6  There  were  various  methods  in  use  for  this  purpose.  One  was  to  recite  a 
special  litany  and  await  the  issue  in  a  dream;  another,  often  resorted  to  by 
Ibn  Battuta,  was  to  take  an  augury  from  the  Qur’an  after  some  preliminary 
recitations. 

7  On  modern  maps  Miliana,  still  a  place  of  some  importance,  situated  in 
the  valley  of  the  Chelif,  fifty-five  miles  south-west  of  Algiers. 

8  The  title  of  honour,  al-Hajj  (in  Turkish,  Hajjl),  is  borne  by  one  who  has 
performed  the  Pilgrimage  ( al-hajj )  to  Mecca. 

9  The  Mitija  is  the  well-known  trough  (an  old  lake-basin)  lying  behind 
Algiers;  by  the  Mountain  of  Oaks  (Jabal  al-Zan)  is  apparently  meant  the 
eastern  part  of  the  Kabylian  range  (see  E.I.,  II,  597b). 

10 


BOUGIE 


the  town,  Abu  ‘Abdallah  al-ZawawI,  and  Abu’l-Tayyib,  the 
son  of  the  qadl,  in  the  house  of  the  jurist10  Abu  ‘Abdallah, 
the  teacher  of  the  exegesis  of  the  Qur’an. 

The  governor  of  Bijaya  at  this  time  was  the  chamberlain 
Abu  |  ‘Abdallah  Muhammad  Ibn  Sayyid  al-Nas.11  Now  one  17 
of  the  Tunisian  merchants  with  whom  I  had  travelled  from 
Milyana,  namely  the  Muhammad  b.  al-Hajar  already  referred 
to,  had  died,  leaving  three  thousand  dinars  of  gold.  This 
money  he  had  given  into  the  custody  of  a  certain  man  of 
al-Jaza’ir,  named  Ibn  Hadida,  to  deliver  to  his  heirs  in 
Tunis.  Ibn  Sayyid  al-Nas  came  to  hear  of  this,  and 
seized  it  from  him.  This  was  the  first  example  that  I 
witnessed  of  the  tyranny  of  the  agents  and  governors  of  the 
Muwahhids.12 

When  we  reached  Bijaya,  as  I  have  related,  I  was  attacked 
by  fever,  and  Abu  ‘Abdallah  al-Zubaidl  advised  me  to  stay 
there  until  I  was  fully  recovered.  But  I  refused  saying,  ‘If 
God  decrees  my  death,  then  my  death  shall  be  on  the  road, 
with  my  face  set  towards  the  land  of  the  Hijaz’.  ‘Well  then’, 
he  replied,  ‘if  you  are  resolved,  sell  your  ass  and  your  heavy 
baggage,  |  and  I  shall  lend  you  ass  and  tent.  In  this  way  you  18 
travel  with  us  light,  for  we  must  move  with  all  speed  for  fear 
of  molestation  by  roving  Arabs  on  the  road’.13  I  did  as  he 
suggested,  and  he  lent  me  what  he  had  promised — may  God 
reward  him  with  good!  This  was  the  first  of  the  divine 
mercies  which  were  manifested  to  me  in  the  course  of  that 
journey  to  the  Hijaz. 

10  Faqlh,  literally  ‘jurist’,  but  already  applied,  as  in  modern  times,  to 
any  person  educated  at  a  seminary  ( madrasa )  and  belonging  more  or  less  to 
the  class  of  professional  religious  teachers.  I  have  translated  it  in  other 
contexts  by  ‘doctor  of  the  law’. 

11  Bougie  at  this  time  was  the  frontier  district  of  the  sultanate  (or 
caliphate)  of  Ifriqiya  (Tunis),  but  frequently  formed  a  separate  principality 
under  a  rival  member  of  the  ruling  dynasty.  The  governor  Ibn  Sayyid 
al-Nas  was  descended  from  an  influential  Arab  family  of  Seville;  his  father 
was  a  former  chamberlain  of  the  sultan  of  Tunis,  and  he  himself  was*a 
foster-brother  of  the  reigning  sultan,  Abu  Yahya  Abu  Bakr  (see  below). 
Ibn  Sayyid  al-Nas  became  chamberlain  in  his  turn  in  727/1327,  and  after 
a  tyrannical  administration  for  five  years  was  executed  in  733/1332.  See 
R.  Brunschvig,  La  BerbSrie  orientale  sous  les  Haf sides,  I  (Paris,  1940),  151. 

12  Or  Almohads,  i.e.  the  Hafsids  of  Tunis;  see  p.  14,  n.  22. 

13  Since  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century  Tunisia  and  eastern  Algeria 
had  been  overrun  by  nomadic  Arabs  of  Hilal,  Sulaim,  and  other  tribes,  and 
only  behind  the  walls  of  the  cities  were  life  and  property  secure. 


II 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

Continuing  our  journey,  we  reached  the  town  of  Qusanfma 
[Constantine]  and  halted  outside  it.  We  were  caught  by  heavy 
rain,  which  forced  us  to  leave  our  tents  during  the  night  for 
the  shelter  of  some  buildings  there.  Next  morning  the  gover¬ 
nor  of  the  town,  an  eminent  sharif14  named  Abul-Hasan, 
came  to  meet  us,  and  seeing  my  clothes,  for  they  were  all 
soiled  by  the  rain,  he  gave  orders  that  they  should  be 
washed  at  his  house.  The  mantle15  which  was  amongst  them 
was  in  rags,  so  he  sent  me  in  its  place  a  mantle  of  fine 

19  Ba‘albek  cloth,  in  one  of  whose  corners  he  had  tied  |  two  gold 
dinars.  This  was  the  first  alms  which  was  bestowed  upon  me 
on  my  journey. 

We  set  out  again  and  came  next  to  the  town  of  Buna 
[Bone].  We  lodged  inside  the  city,  and  after  we  had  stopped 
in  it  for  some  days  we  left  there  the  merchants  who  had  been 
in  our  company,  on  account  of  the  dangers  of  the  road,  and 
travelled  light  with  the  utmost  speed,  pushing  on  night  and 
day  without  stopping.16  I  was  [again]  attacked  by  the  fever, 
and  I  actually  tied  myself  on  the  saddle  with  a  turban-cloth 
in  case  I  should  fall  off  by  reason  of  my  weakness.  It  was 
impossible  for  me  to  dismount,  on  account  of  the  danger.  So 
at  last  we  reached  the  town  of  Tunis,  and  the  townsfolk  came 
out  to  welcome  the  shaikh  Abu  ‘Abdallah  az-Zubaidl  and  to 
welcome  Abu’l-Tayyib,  the  son  of  the  qadl  Abu  ‘Abdullah 
al-NafzawI.  On  all  sides  they  came  forward  with  greetings 
and  questions  to  one  another,  but  not  a  soul  said  a  word  of 
greeting  to  me,  since  there  was  none  of  them  that  I  knew.  I 
felt  so  sad  at  heart  on  account  of  my  loneliness  that  I  could 

20  not  restrain  |  the  tears  that  started  to  my  eyes,  and  wept 
bitterly.  But  one  of  the  pilgrims,  realizing  the  cause  of  my 
distress,  came  up  to  me  with  a  greeting  and  friendly 
welcome,  and  continued  to  comfort  me  with  friendly  talk 

14  The  sharifs  or  descendants  of  the  daughter  of  the  prophet  Muhammad 
in  the  male  line,  formed  a  natural  aristocracy  of  birth  in  Muslim  society  and, 
though  they  were  to  be  found  in  all  ranks  of  life,  enjoyed  a  considerable 
measure  of  social  prestige.  The  governor  of  the  province  of  Constantine  at 
this  time  was  ‘Abu  ‘Abdallah,  a  son  of  the  sultan  of  Tunis. 

16 1  hr  dm,  not  in  this  instance  the  pilgrim  garment  (see  p.  184,  n.  106),  but 
a  kind  of  woollen  veil  or  shawl  worn  by  the  Maghribins  over  the  head  and 
shoulders  or  over  the  shoulders  only.  Tlemsen  was  especially  noted  for  the 
manufacture  of  such  mantles  in  very  fine  wool,  weighing  only  five  ounces. 

16  The  distance  from  Bone  to  Tunis  is  about  150  miles. 

12 


TUNIS 


until  I  entered  the  city,  where  I  lodged  in  the  college  of  the 
Booksellers.17 

Ibn  Juzayy  adds:  My  teacher,  the  qadl-in-chief  and  most 
eloquent  of  preachers  Abu'l-Barakat  Muhammad  b.  Muham¬ 
mad  b.  Ibrahim  al-Sulami  (he  was  the  man  known  as  Ibn 
al-Hajj  al-Balfiqi),18  told  me  that  an  incident  of  this  kind 
happened  to  him.  These  were  his  words:  T  went  to  the  town 
of  Ballash  [Velez]  in  the  land  of  al-Andalus  on  the  eve  of  a 
festival  day,  for  the  purpose  of  [hearing]  the  recitation  of  the 
hadith 19  handed  down  concerning  the  festival  on  the  authority 
of  Abu  ‘Abdallah  ibn  al-Kamad.  I  went  to  the  festival 
praying-ground20  with  all  the  people,  and  when  the  prayer 
and  allocution  were  finished  they  all  began  to  exchange 
greetings  with  one  another,  while  I  remained  apart,  without  | 
anyone  to  say  a  word  of  greeting  to  me.  Then  an  old  man,  21 
one  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  town,  made  towards  me  and 
came  up  to  me  with  a  greeting  and  friendly  welcome 
saying:  “I  looked  at  you  and  saw  that  you  were  standing 
apart  from  all  the  others,  with  no  one  to  greet  you,  so  I 
knew  that  you  were  a  stranger,  and  thought  I  would  say  a 
friendly  word  to  you” — may  God  reward  him  with  good!’ 
(Resumes.) 

The  Sultan  of  Tunis .21  The  sultan  of  Tunis  at  the  time  of 
my  entry  was  the  sultan  Abu  Yahya,  son  of  the  sultan  Abu 
Zakariya  Yahya  [II],  son  of  the  sultan  Abu  Ishaq  Ibrahim, 
son  of  the  sultan  Abu  Zakariya  Yahya  [I],  son  of  ‘Abd 

17  Madras  at  al-Kutublyln.  The  madras  a  or  college,  of  which  at  this  time 
there  were  large  numbers  in  all  Islamic  countries,  was  generally  a  building 
devoted  to  the  teaching  of  the  religious  sciences  of  Islam,  containing  a 
mosque  and  a  number  of  lecture  rooms  and  living  apartments  for  teachers 
and  students. 

18  There  is  an  extensive  biography  of  Abu’l-Barakat  Balfiqi  (b.  1266, 
d.  1369)  in  Ibn  al-Khatlb’s  Ihata,  II,  101-21;  according  to  Ibn  Hajar,  Ibn 
Khaldun  regarded  him  as  the  foremost  scholar  of  his  time  ( Durar ,  IV, 
155-7)* 

19  Traditional  saying  attributed  to  the  Prophet,  accompanied  by  the 
chain  of  its  relaters  and  transmitters  through  successive  generations.  See 
generally  A.  Guillaume,  The  Traditions  of  Islam  (Oxford,  1924). 

20  For  the  two  annual  festival  prayers,  which  the  entire  population  was 
expected  to  attend,  the  ordinary  mosque  was  too  small,  and  it  was  customary 
to  hold  them  on  a  special  plot  of  ground,  called  the  Musalld,  usually  outside 
the  walls. 

21  From  this  point  the  book  is  supplied  here  and  there  with  paragraph 
headings.  For  the  significance  of  the  title  of  ‘sultan’  see  p.  3,  n.  9. 

13 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 


al-Wahid,  son  of  Abu  Hafs — God’s  mercy  on  him.22  There 
was  at  Tunis  a  body  of  notable  scholars.  Among  them  was  the 
chief  qadi  of  the  town,  ‘Abu  ‘Abdallah  Muhammad,  son  of 
the  chief  qadi  AbuVAbbas  Ahmad,  son  of  Muhammad  b. 
Hasan  b.  Muhammad  al-Ansari  al-Khazraji,  of  Valencia  by 
origin,  and  subsequently  of  Tunis  [by  residence];  the  latter 
22  was  known  as  Ibn  al-Ghammaz.23  |  Others  were  the  preacher 
Abu  Ishaq  Ibrahim  b.  Husain  b.  ‘All  b.  ‘Abd  al-Rafi‘  al- 
Rib‘i,24  who  also  held  the  appointment  of  chief  qadi  under 
five  reigns,  and  the  jurist  Abu  ‘Ali  ‘Omar  b.  ‘All  b.  Qaddah 
al-Hawari;  he  too  held  the  qadi-ship  of  Tunis  and  was  one  of 
the  most  eminent  of  scholars.  It  was  a  custom  of  his,  every 
Friday  after  the  service  of  the  day,  to  seat  himself  with  his 
back  against  one  of  the  columns  of  the  principal  mosque, 
known  as  the  mosque  of  the  Olive,25  while  the  people  came  to 
ask  him  to  give  a  decision  on  various  questions.26  When  he 
had  stated  his  opinion  on  forty  questions  he  ended  that 
session. 

While  still  at  Tunis  I  was  overtaken  by  the  feast  of  the 
Fast-breaking  and  I  joined  the  company  at  the  Musalld21 
The  inhabitants  had  already  assembled  in  large  numbers  to 
celebrate  their  festival  and  had  come  out  in  brave  show  and 

22  Abu  Yahya  Abu  Bakr  (reigned  from  1311  at  Bougie  and  Constantine, 
from  1318  at  Tunis;  died  in  1346)  belonged  to  the  fourth  generation  of  the 
Hafsid  dynasty,  an  offshoot  of  the  Almohads  of  Morocco,  which  became 
independent  under  Abu  Zakariya  I  (1228-49)  and  continued  to  rule  in 
Tunisia  until  the  advent  of  the  ‘Barbary  Corsairs’  in  the  sixteenth  century. 
In  spite  of  dynastic  strife,  constant  internal  difficulties,  especially  with  the 
nomad  Arabs  (see  above,  p.  11,  n.  13),  and  warfare  with  both  Muslim  and 
Christian  neighbours,  Tunis  was  under  their  rule  the  chief  cultural  and 
commercial  centre  of  north-west  Africa,  and  the  level  of  its  culture  was 
maintained  by  large  settlements  of  Moorish  refugees  from  Spain. 

23  He  played  a  notable  part  in  Tunis  during  the  latter  half  of  the  previous 
century;  see  Brunschvig,  I,  73,  74,  379. 

24  Ibn  Hajar  calls  him  Ibrahim  b.  al-Hasan,  d.  1334  ( Durar ,  I,  23). 

25  Jami‘  al-Zaituna,  still  the  principal  mosque  and  centre  of  higher  reli¬ 
gious  education  in  Tunis. 

26  A  fatwa,  or  considered  opinion  on  some  point  of  law,  may  be  issued  by 
any  qualified  jurist,  but  can  be  given  executive  force  only  by  a  qadi.  On 
al-Qaddah  (d.  1336)  see  Brunschvig,  I,  407;  II,  137-9;  Durar,  III,  179. 

27  The  festival  following  the  annual  fast  observed  during  the  month  of 
Ramadan,  known  as  ‘Id  al-Fitr  or  Bair  dm  in  the  East,  is  always  celebrated 
with  great  animation  and  gaiety,  and  it  is  a  universal  custom  to  put  on  new 
clothes  for  the  occasion.  For  the  musalld  see  p.  13.  n.  20;  the  site  of  the  former 
musalld,  in  the  southern  quarter  of  the  town,  is  now  occupied  by  the  Caserne 
Saussier,  built  in  1835. 


14 


TUNIS  TO  S F AX 


in  their  richest  apparel.  The  sultan  Abu  Yahya  arrived  on 
horseback,  accompanied  by  all  his  relatives  and  courtiers 
and  guards  of  his  kingdom  walking  on  foot  in  a  magnificent 
procession.28  |  The  prayers  were  recited,  the  allocution29  was 
discharged,  and  the  people  returned  to  their  homes. 

Some  time  later  the  caravan  [of  pilgrims]  for  the  noble 
Hijaz  was  organized  [and  designated  as]  its  shaikh  [a  man] 
called  Abu  Ya'qub  al-SusI,  belonging  to  Iqllblya,30  one  of  the 
towns  of  Ifrlqiya.  The  greater  number  of  the  party  were  men 
of  Masmuda31  and  they  put  me  forward  as  qadi  of  their 
company.  We  left  Tunis  in  the  last  days  of  the  month  of 
Dhul-Qa'da  [beginning  of  November  1325],  following  the 
coast  road,  and  came  to  the  township  of  Susa,  which  is  small 
but  pretty  and  built  on  the  seashore,  forty  miles  distant  from 
Tunis.32  We  came  next  to  the  town  of  Safaqus  [Sfax].  Outside 
this  place  there  is  the  grave  of  the  imam  Abul-Hasan  al- 
Lakhml,  the  Malikite  jurist  and  author  of  the  book  called 
Al-Tabsira  fil-Fiqh  [i.e.  ‘The  Exposition  of  Jurisprudence’]. 33 

28  A  detailed  description  of  the  sultan’s  cortege  on  such  occasions  is  given 
by  al-‘Omari;  see  translation  by  Gaudefroy-Demombynes  (Paris,  1927), 
113-16. 

29  The  Khutba  is  a  formal  allocution  at  the  Friday  and  festival  prayers, 
in  which  the  ruling  authorities  are  prayed  for  by  name,  and  which  has  in 
consequence  acquired  a  distinctive  political  significance. 

30  This  passage  appears  to  be  slightly  corrupt;  some  word  or  words  have 
been  omitted,  and  the  name  of  Iqllblya  (the  ancient  Clypea,  on  the  south¬ 
east  side  of  Cape  Bon)  appears  as  Iqll. 

31  One  of  the  main  Berber  stocks  of  Morocco,  especially  identified  with  the 
Almohad  movement. 

32  Susa,  the  ancient  Hadrumetum,  has  always  been  a  place  of  some  im¬ 
portance  as  the  chief  city  of  the  fertile  coastal  plain  called  al-Sahil,  the 
ancient  Byzacene.  The  present  town  still  has  its  old  walls.  The  actual  dis¬ 
tance  between  Susa  and  Tunis  is  slightly  over  eighty-five  miles. 

33  The  old  town  of  Sfax,  surrounded  by  a  triangular  wall,  with  the  qasba 
or  castle  in  the  south-east  angle,  is  still  in  existence,  but  since  the  French 
occupation  the  aspect  of  its  environs  has  completely  changed.  Formerly  it 
stood  on  the  shore,  at  the  apex  of  a  wide  and  very  shallow  bay  (hence 
called  al-Qasir),  the  waters  of  which  came  nearly  up  to  the  city  wall  at  high 
tide  but  receded  more  than  a  thousand  yards  at  low  tide,  the  rise  being 
about  three  feet.  (At  Gabes  the  tides,  when  full,  may  reach  as  much  as 
seven  or  eight  feet.)  This  phenomenon,  as  the  following  verses  attest,  natur¬ 
ally  attracted  attention  in  the  generally  tideless  Mediterranean  Sea.  The 
harbour  of  Sfax  consisted  of  a  trench,  called  ‘the  Channel’  ( al-khallj  or 
al-shatt),  with  a  wooden  quay,  situated  about  250  yards  from  the  south¬ 
east  gate,  and  accessible  from  the  sea  at  high  tide  only.  The  new  town  of 
Sfax  is  gradually  being  built  out  into  the  former  bay,  and  the  site  of  the  old 
khallj  is  now  traversed  by  one  of  the  main  boulevards.  The  grave  of  Abu’l- 

C  15  T.O.I.B. 


23 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

Ibn  Juzayy  adds:  It  is  of  the  town  of  Safaqus  that  [the 
poet]  ‘All  b.  Habib  al-Tanukhi  says —  | 

[God  send]  refreshing  rain  to  the  land  of  Safaqus,  city  of 

cisterns34  and  place  of  prayer! 

His  protection  be  on  the  bay  [and  extend]  to  the  channel,35 
and  on  its  lofty  castle  of  highest  fortune ! 

A  town  which  seems  to  say  when  thou  comest  to  it  ‘Wel¬ 
come  to  home  and  ease’. 

Methinks  the  sea,  as  it  now  slips  away  from  it,  now  fills  up, 

Is  like  a  lover,  seeking  to  pay  a  visit,  but  when  it  sees  the 
guardians  draws  back. 

Precisely  the  opposite  of  these  sentiments  is  expressed  in  the 
verses  of  Abu.  ‘Abdallah  Muhammad  b.  Abl  Tamlm,  a  finished 
man  of  letters,  and  a  copious  poet: 

Safaqus!  may  life  not  be  sweet  (safd)  to  the  dweller 
therein,  and  no  rain  outpouring  refresh  her  soil ! 

Out  on  a  town  where  he  who  alights  in  her  court  is  assailed 
by  both  foes,  the  Christian  and  the  Arab ! 

How  many  there  are  who  wander  distraught  on  the  land, 
despoiled  of  their  goods!  |  How  many  who  spend  their 
nights  on  the  sea  bewailing  captivity  and  perdition  !36 

The  sea  itself  hath  beheld  such  villainy  in  her  dwellers  that 
as  oft  as  it  makes  to  approach  her  it  turns  back  in  flight. 

(Resumes.)  We  came  next  to  the  town  of  Qabis  [Gabes], 
and  put  up  inside  it.  We  stopped  there  over  ten  nights,  on 
account  of  incessant  rains. 

Ibn  Juzayy  adds:  In  reference  to  Qabis  a  certain  poet  says: 

Alas  for  the  sweetness  of  long-past  nights  by  the  side  of  the 
fertile  valley  of  Qabis ! 

Methinks  my  heart,  at  their  memory,  is  a  brand  of  fire  in 
the  hands  of  a  brand-bearer  (qabis). 

Hasan  al-Lakhmi  (d.  1085),  situated  just  outside  the  north-west  wall  of  the 
old  town,  is  still  an  object  of  veneration. 

34  As  there  are  no  springs  or  streams  at  Sfax,  the  town  has  always  de¬ 
pended  for  its  water  supply  upon  storage  cisterns  draining  the  rainwater 
from  large  plastered  surfaces. 

35  For  the  ‘bay’  ( al-qasir )  and  ‘channel’  ( al-khalij )  see  p.  13,  n.  33. 

36  The  latter  reference  is  obviously  to  Christian  raiders  and  corsairs,  who 
continually  harassed  the  coasts  of  Tunisia  and  Libya. 

l6 


TRIPOLITANIA 


(Resumes.)  We  then  left  the  town  of  Qabis,  making  for 
Atrabulus  [Tripoli],  and  were  escorted  for  some  stages  of  our 
journey  thither  by  about  a  hundred  or  more  horsemen.  There 
was  also  in  the  caravan  a  troop  of  archers,  with  the  result 
that  the  roving  Arabs,  in  fear  of  them,  avoided  their  vicinity, 
and  God  preserved  us  |  from  them.  We  celebrated  the  Feast  26 
of  Sacrifice37  on  one  of  the  stages  of  this  journey,  and  on  the 
fourth  day  following  came  to  the  city  of  Atrabulus,  where  we 
stayed  for  some  time.  I  had  made  a  contract  of  marriage  at 
Safaqus  with  the  daughter  of  one  of  the  syndics  at  Tunis,  and 
she  was  conducted  to  me38  at  Atrabulus.  I  then  left  Atrabulus, 
at  the  end  of  the  month  of  Muharram  of  the  year  [seven 
hundred  and]  twenty-six39  taking  my  wife  with  me,  and 
accompanied  by  a  party  of  the  men  of  Masmuda,  for  I  had 
raised  the  flag  and  set  out  at  their  head,40  while  the  main 
caravan  remained  at  Atrabulus  for  fear  of  the  cold  and  rain. 

We  passed  through  Mislata,  Misrata,  and  Qusur  Surt,41 
where  the  dromedary-men  of  some  bands  of  nomad  Arabs42 
sought  to  attack  us,  but  eventually  the  Divine  Will  diverted 
them  and  prevented  them  from  doing  us  the  harm  that  they 
had  intended.  Our  way  then  lay  through  the  midst  of  the 
ghaba ,43  and  we  traversed  it  to  the  fort  of  the  anchorite 
BarsTs  and  thence  to  Qubbat  Sallam.44  There  we  were  over- 
taken  |  by  the  body  of  the  caravan  who  had  stayed  behind  at  27 


37  Literally,  ‘The  Feast  of  Sacrifice  overtook  us’,  i.e.  the  annual  festival 
on  10th  Dhu’l-Hijja,  called  ‘Id  al-Adha  (in  Turkish,  Qurban  Bairam),  when 
the  pilgrimage  rites  at  Mecca  are  completed  by  the  slaying  of  the  sacrificial 
animals  in  the  valley  of  Mina.  In  a.h.  725  it  fell  about  17  November  1325. 

38  Literally,  ‘I  set  up  my  tent  over  her’,  a  traditional  bedouin  phrase. 

39  a.h.  726  began  about  8  December  1325;  the  end  of  Muharram  would 
fall  in  the  beginning  of  January  1326. 

40  It  is  not  unusual  for  companies  of  pilgrims  to  carry  a  flag. 

41  Mislata  is  probably  the  Rassamixar  of  the  medieval  portolans 
(  =  Porto  Ligata);  Misrata,  the  modern  Misurata;  Surt  (Cavo  di  Sorta  in  the 
portolans)  at  Ras  Sultan  (Kretschmer,  Die  italienischen  Portolane  des 
Mittelalters,  676-7) .  Already  in  Idrisi’s  time  Surt  was  in  decay,  owing  to  the 
devastations  of  the  Arabs  ( Description  de  I’Afrique  et  de  I’Espagne  par 
Edrisi,  ed.  and  tr.  Dozy  and  de  Goeje,  143-4). 

42  The  readin gjamamiza  of  two  MSS.  means  apparently  riders  of  the  swift 
dromedaries  called  jammaza. 

43  I.e.  desert  country  with  scattered  trees  and  generally  uninhabited. 

44  The  ‘fort  of  Barsis’  is  apparently  a  localization  of  a  widespread  legend 
concerning  the  monk  Barsisa  (see  E.I.,  s.v.).  The  ‘domed-chapel’  of  Sallam  is 
unidentified. 


17 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

Atrabulus,  and  I  became  involved  in  a  dispute  with  my 
father-in-law  which  made  it  necessary  for  me  to  separate 
from  his  daughter.  I  then  married  the  daughter  of  a  talib* 5  of 
Fez,  and  when  she  was  conducted  to  me  at  Qasr  al-Za'afiya46 
I  gave  a  wedding  feast,  at  which  I  detained  the  caravan  for  a 
whole  day,  and  entertained  them  all. 

After  that,  on  the  ist  of  First  Jumada  [5  April  1326],  we 
arrived  at  the  city  of  al-Iskandariya  [Alexandria],  may  God 
protect  her!  She  is  a  well-guarded  frontier  citadel  and  a 
friendly  and  hospitable  region,  remarkable  in  appearance  and 
solid  of  construction,  furnished  with  all  that  one  could  wish 
for  in  the  way  of  embellishment  and  embattlement,  and  of 
memorable  edifices  both  secular  and  religious.  Noble  are  her 
dwellings,  graceful  her  qualities  and  to  imposing  size  her 
buildings  unite  architectural  perfection.  She  is  a  unique  pearl 
of  glowing  opalescence,  and  a  secluded  maiden  arrayed  in  her 
bridal  adornments,  glorious  in  her  surpassing  beauty,  uniting 
in  herself  the  excellences  that  are  shared  out  [by  other  cities 
between  themselves]  through  her  mediating  situation  be- 
28  tween  the  East  and  the  West.  Every  |  fresh  marvel  has  there 
its  unveiling,  every  novelty  finds  its  way  thither.  Men  have 
already  described  it  and  descanted  at  length;  they  have  com¬ 
piled  volumes  on  its  marvellous  features,  and  exceeded  all 
bounds;  but  for  one  who  would  acquire  a  detailed  knowledge 
of  this  subject  it  is  enough  [to  read]  what  Abu  ‘Ubaid 
[al-Bakrl]  has  written  in  The  Book  of  Ways.*1 

Its  gates  and  harbour.  The  city  of  Alexandria  has  four 
gates:  the  gate  of  the  Lote-tree,  and  it  is  to  it  that  the 
Maghrib  road  leads;  the  gate  of  Rashid  [Rosetta];  the  Sea¬ 
gate;  and  the  Green  gate.  This  gate  is  opened  only  on  Fridays, 


45  The  talibs  or  'students’  (Arabic,  talaba)  formed  the  fourth  class  in  the 
Almohad  organization  and  retained  their  position  under  the  Marinids  as 
salaried  jurists  and  doctors  of  religion. 

46  I  have  not  identified  this  place,  which  seems  to  lie  east  of  the 
Jabal. 

47  This  paragraph  is  composed  throughout  in  the  elegant  rhyming  style 
already  employed  in  the  preface,  and  similar  rhetorical  passages,  due 
doubtless  to  the  efforts  of  Ibn  J  uzayy  to  enhance  the  literary  quality  of  the 
book,  precede  the  description  of  every  important  city.  Abu  ‘Ubaid  al-Bakri 
(1028-94),  the  earliest  of  the  great  geographical  compilers,  was  a  Spanish- 
Arab  savant.  His  geographical  work  extended  to  several  volumes,  most  of 
which  have  been  lost. 


18 


ALEXANDRIA 


and  the  people  go  out  through  it  to  visit  the  tombs.48  It  has 
also  the  magnificent  port,49  and  among  all  the  ports  in  the 
world  I  have  seen  none  to  equal  it,  except  the  ports  of 
Kawlam  [Quilon]  and  Qallqut  [Calicut]  in  India,  the  port  of 
the  infidels  [Genoese]  at  Sudaq  in  the  land  of  the  Turks,  and 
the  port  of  Zaitun  in  China,  all  of  which  will  be  mentioned 
later.  | 

The  lighthouse.  I  went  to  see  the  lighthouse  on  this  journey  29 
and  found  one  of  its  faces  in  ruins.  One  would  describe  it  as  a 
square  building  soaring  into  the  air.  Its  door  is  high  above 
the  level  of  the  ground,  and  opposite  its  door  and  of  the  same 
height  is  another  building;  wooden  planks  are  laid  from  one 
to  the  other,  and  on  these  one  crosses  to  the  doorway.  When 
they  are  removed  there  is  no  means  of  approach  to  it.  Inside 
the  door  there  is  a  place  for  the  guardian  of  the  lighthouse 
to  sit  in,  and  within  the  lighthouse  itself  there  are  many 
chambers.  The  breadth  of  the  passage  in  its  interior  is  nine 
spans;50  and  the  breadth  of  the  wall  ten  spans;  the  breadth  of 
the  lighthouse  on  each  of  its  four  faces  is  140  spans.  It  is 
situated  on  a  high  mound  and  lies  at  a  distance  of  one  farsakh 
[three  miles]  from  the  city  on  a  long  tongue  of  land,  encom¬ 
passed  on  three  sides  by  the  sea  up  to  the  point  where  the  sea 
is  immediately  adjacent  to  the  city  wall,  so  that  the  light¬ 
house  cannot  be  reached  by  land  except  |  from  the  city.  On  30 
this  peninsula  connected  with  the  lighthouse  is  the  cemetery 
of  Alexandria.  I  visited  the  lighthouse  [again]  on  my  return 
to  the  Maghrib  in  the  year  750  [1349],  and  found  that  it  had 
fallen  into  so  ruinous  a  condition  that  it  was  impossible  to 
enter  it  or  to  climb  up  to  the  doorway.51  Al-Malik  al- 

48  The  names  of  the  four  gates  of  Alexandria  (the  term  ‘Gate  of  the 
Lote-tree’  replaced  by  ‘West  gate’)  were  until  recently  preserved  in  the 
street  names  of  the  city,  the  gates  themselves  having  been  demolished  in 
the  nineteenth  century. 

49  Both  harbours  of  Alexandria  were  used  at  this  time;  see  portolan  of 
Marino  Sanudo,  par.  12  (Kretschmer,  241). 

60  A  span  is  the  distance  between  the  thumb  and  the  little  finger  when 
the  hand  is  expanded,  i.e.  about  nine  inches. 

61  The  Pharos  (Arabic,  manar  or  mandra)  is  mentioned  or  described  in  all 
the  Arabic  geographical  works;  al-Qazwinl  even  gives  a  diagram  of  it  in 
Athar  al-Bilad  (Br.  Mus.,  Or.  MS  3623,  fol.  41b).  The  Egyptian  encyclo¬ 
paedist  al-Qalqashandl  (d.  1418)  describes  the  Pharos  from  the  work  of  the 
eleventh-century  writer  al-Quda‘I,  and  says  that  the  famous  mirror  on  its 
summit  was  broken  by  stratagem  on  the  part  of  the  Christians  in  the  reign 

19 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

Nasir52  (God’s  mercy  on  him)  had  started  to  build  a  similar 
lighthouse  alongside  it,  which  he  was  prevented  by  death 
from  completing. 

The  Pillar  of  Columns.™  Another  of  the  marvels  of  this  city 
is  the  awe-inspiring  marble  column  outside  it,  called  by  them 
the  Pillar  of  Columns.  It  is  in  the  midst  of  a  grove  of  date- 
palms,  but  it  stands  out  from  amongst  its  trees,  over-topping 
them  in  height.  It  is  a  single  block,  skilfully  hewn,  erected  on 
a  plinth  of  square  stones  like  enormous  platforms,  and  no  one 

31  knows  how  it  was  erected  there  |  nor  for  certain  who  erected  it. 

Ibn  Juzayy  remarks:  I  have  been  told  by  one  of  my 
teachers,  a  much-travelled  man,  that  a  man  of  the  corps  of 
archers  at  Alexandria  climbed  to  the  top  of  this  column, 
taking  his  bow  and  quiver  with  him,  and  sat  himself  down 
there.  When  the  news  of  this  spread,  a  huge  crowd  assembled 
to  gaze  at  him.  Everyone  was  greatly  astonished  at  his  feat 
and  puzzled  to  know  how  he  had  contrived  to  do  it.  I  think 
that  he  was  either  in  fear  of  something  or  wanting  to  get 
something,  and  his  action  enabled  him  to  attain  his  object,  on 
account  of  the  strangeness  of  his  performance.  This  was  the 
way  in  which  he  contrived  to  ascend  the  column.  He  shot  an 
arrow,  to  the  end  of  which  he  had  tied  a  long  thread,  and  to 
the  end  of  the  thread  a  stout  rope,  so  that  the  arrow  passed 
over  the  top  of  the  column  and  exactly  transverse  to  it,  and 
fell  on  the  side  opposite  to  the  archer.  Thus  the  thread  lay 
transversely  across  the  top  of  the  column,  and  he  pulled  on  it 
until  the  middle  of  the  rope  came  to  the  top  of  the  column  in 

32  place  of  the  thread.  |  He  then  secured  the  rope  firmly  in  the 
ground  at  one  end  and  climbed  up  from  the  other  end,  and 
having  taken  up  his  position  on  top  pulled  away  the  rope.  He 
had  someone  with  him  who  carried  it  away,  so  that  people  had 
nothing  to  guide  them  to  his  trick  and  were  astonished  by  his 
feat. 


of  al-Walid  I  (705-1 5).  He  adds  that  the  lighthouse  fell  gradually  into  decay 
until  the  middle  of  the  eighth  (fourteenth)  century,  when  it  was  pulled  down 
( Subh  al  A'sha,  III,  321-2).  For  a  historical  sketch  and  plan  of  the  Pharos 
see  E.  M.  Forster,  Alexandria  (Alexandria,  1922),  133  ff. 

62  See  below,  p.  52. 

63  On  the  history  of  ‘Pompey’s  Pillar’  (so  named  by  the  crusaders,  it 
seems)  see  Forster,  145-6.  Savary  {Letters  on  Egypt,  Eng.  tr.,  I,  letter  2) 
ingeniously  translates  ‘amud  al-sawari  as  ‘Pillar  of  Severus’. 

20 


ALEXANDRIA 


(Resumes.)  The  governor  of  Alexandria  at  the  time  of  my 
arrival  was  named  Salah  al-DIn.54  Living  there  too  at  that 
time  was  the  deposed  sultan  of  Ifriqiya,  Zakarlya  Abu 
Yahya  b.  Ahmad  b.  Abu  Hafs,  known  as  al-Lihyanl.55  Al- 
Malik  al-Nasir  gave  orders  to  lodge  him  in  the  palace  of  the 
sultanate  at  Alexandria,  and  assigned  him  a  pension  of  a 
hundred  dirhams  a  day.  Along  with  him  were  his  sons,  ‘Abd 
al-Wahid,  Misri,  and  Iskandarl,  his  chamberlain  Abu 
Zakarlya  b.  Ya'qub,  and  his  wazir  Abu  'Abdallah  b.  Yasin. 

It  was  at  Alexandria  that  this  man  al-Lihyanl  died,  and  his 
son  al-Iskandari  also,  while  Misri  is  still  there  to  this  day. 

Ibn  Juzayy  remarks:  It  is  a  strange  thing  how  close  |  to  the  33 
truth  the  auguries  derived  from  the  names  of  the  two  sons  of 
al-Lihyanl,  al-Iskandari  and  Misri,  fell  out,  for  al-Iskandari 
died  at  al-Iskandariya,  while  Misri  lived  there  for  a  long  time 
and  it  is  in  the  land  of  Misr  [Egypt] . 

(Resumes.)  Abd  al-Wahid  travelled  to  the  country  of  al- 
Andalus,  and  [subsequently]  to  the  Maghrib  and  Ifriqiya, 
and  died  there  in  the  island  of  Jarba. 

Some  of  the  learned  men  of  Alexandria.  One  of  these  was 
the  qadi  of  the  city,  'Imad  al-Din  al-Kindi,  a  master  of  the 
arts  of  speech,  who  used  to  wear  a  turban  of  extraordinary 
size.  Never  either  in  the  eastern  nor  in  the  western  lands  have 
I  seen  a  more  voluminous  headgear  than  this.  I  saw  him  one 
day  sitting  in  the  forepart  of  a  prayer-niche,  and  his  turban 
was  not  far  short  of  filling  it  up  completely.  | 

Another  was  Fakhr  al-Din  b.  al-Righi,  who  also  was  one  of  34 
the  qadis  at  Alexandria,  and  a  worthy  and  learned  man. 

Anecdote.  It  is  related  that  the  grandfather  of  the  qadi 
Fakhr  al-Din  al-Righi  belonged  to  the  town  of  Righa,56  and 
and  after  devoting  himself  to  the  pursuit  of  learning  he  set 
out  to  go  to  the  Hijaz.  He  reached  Alexandria  in  the  evening, 


64  Salah  al-Din  al-Dawadar  (‘the  Secretary’)  was  governor  of  Alexandria 
from  25  August  1324  to  6  Feb.  1329  (Zettersteen,  174-5,  180). 

65  Generally  known  as  Ibn  al-Lihyanl,  formerly  shaikh  of  the  Almohads, 
who  reigned  at  Tunis,  1311-18  (Brunschvig,  I,  128-43). 

66  Righa,  according  to  Idrisi,  was  a  township  two  marches  eastwards 
from  Miliana,  probably  the  well-known  watering-place  now  known  as 
Hammam  Rhira.  According  to  Yaqut  its  name  is  derived  from  a  Berber 
word  rtgh,  meaning  ‘salt-marsh’.  Ahmad  b.  Muhammad  b.  ‘Abdal-Rahman, 
called  Ibn  al-Righi,  died  in  1365  ( Durar ,  I,  272). 

21 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

having  but  little  in  his  hand;  and  being  unwilling  to  enter  the 
town  until  he  should  hear  some  good  omen,  he  remained 
seated  close  to  the  gate  until  everybody  had  gone  in,  and  the 
hour  for  closing  the  gate  had  arrived.  There  was  no  one  left 
there  but  himself,  and  the  keeper  of  the  gate,  annoyed  at  his 
lingering,  said  to  him  sarcastically  ‘Come  in,  O  qadl\  ‘Qadi,  it 
God  will1  he  replied  and  entered  into  one  of  the  colleges, 
where  he  studied  assiduously  and  followed  the  ‘way’  of  the 
virtuous.  His  name  and  fame  spread  abroad,  and  he  acquired 
such  a  reputation  for  asceticism  and  piety  that  at  length  the 

35  reports  about  him  reached  the  [ears  of  the]  |  king  of  Egypt.  It 
happened  that  the  qadi  of  Alexandria  died,  and  in  it  at  that 
time  were  a  great  multitude  of  learned  jurists  and  theologians, 
all  of  whom  aspired  to  the  appointment,  while  he  alone 
amongst  them  had  no  ambitions  in  this  direction.  Thereupon 
the  sultan  sent  him  the  ‘investiture’,  that  is  to  say,  the  dip¬ 
loma  of  appointment  as  qadi.  When  the  courier  delivered  this 
to  him,  he  ordered  his  servant  to  make  public  proclamation 
that  any  person  who  had  a  dispute  should  present  himself  for 
its  investigation,  and  he  held  sittings  for  the  settling  of  cases 
between  the  inhabitants.  The  jurists  and  others  met  in  the 
house  of  one  of  their  number,  whose  claim  to  the  qadi-ship, 
they  had  thought,  could  not  be  passed  over,  and  discussed  the 
possibility  of  inducing  the  sultan  to  reconsider  al-Righi’s 
appointment  and  of  addressing  a  remonstrance  to  him  to  the 
effect  that  the  population  were  dissatisfied  with  al-Rlghl. 
There  was  present  at  this  meeting,  however,  an  astrologer,  a 
man  of  great  perspicacity,  who  said  to  them:  ‘Do  not  do  that, 

36  for  I  have  cast  the  horoscope  of  his  appointment  |  and  taken 
pains  to  assure  myself  of  it,  and  it  has  appeared  to  me  that  he 
will  hold  judicial  office  for  forty  years.’  So  they  gave  up  their 
idea  of  having  his  case  reconsidered,  and  his  fortunes  were 
as  the  astrologer  had  foreseen,  and  he  was  noted  during  the 
tenure  of  the  qadi-ship  for  even  justice  and  purity  of  character. 

Others  of  the  scholars  at  Alexandria  were  Wajlh  al-Dln 
al-Sanhajl,  one  of  the  qadls  of  the  town,  celebrated  for  his 
learning  and  personal  worth,  and  Shams  al-Dln,  son  of  Bint 
al-Tinnisi,  a  worthy  man  of  wide  reputation. 

Amongst  the  devotees  there  was  the  shaikh  Abu  ‘Abdallah 
al-Fasi,  who  was  one  of  the  greatest  of  God’s  saints.  It  is  said 

22 


SCHOLARS  AT  ALEXANDRIA 


that  he  used  to  hear  the  word  of  peace  returned  to  him  when 
he  gave  it  at  the  conclusion  of  his  ritual  prayers.57  Another 
was  the  learned,  self-denying,  humble  and  pious  Imam, 
Khalifa,  to  whom  ecstatic  revelations  were  granted.58 

A  miracle 59  of  his .  I  was  told  by  a  trustworthy  person,  one 
of  his  associates,  that  the  shaikh  |  Khalifa  saw  the  Prophet  of  37 
of  God  (upon  him  be  God’s  blessing  and  peace)  in  his  sleep. 
The  Prophet  said  to  him:  ‘0  Khalifa,  visit  us.’  So  he  journeyed 
to  al-Madlna  the  Noble,  and  having  come  to  the  illustrious 
mosque  he  entered  by  the  Gate  of  Peace,  saluted  the  mosque, 
and  gave  the  word  of  peace  to  [the  tomb  of]  the  Prophet  of 
God.  He  then  sat  down  with  his  back  against  one  of  the 
columns  of  the  mosque  and  placed  his  head  upon  his  knees, 
in  the  posture  which  is  termed  al-tazyiq 60  amongst  the  adepts 
of  Sufism.  When  at  length  he  raised  his  head,  he  found 
[before  him]  four  loaves,  some  jugs  of  milk,  and  a  plate  of 
dates.  He  and  his  companions  ate,  and  he  set  out 
to  return  to  Alexandria  without  making  the  pilgrimage  that 
year. 

Another  of  them  was  the  learned,  self-denying,  pious  and 
humble  imam  Burhan  al-DIn  the  Lame,  one  of  the  greatest  of 
ascetics  and  a  devotee  of  outstanding  personality.  I  met  him 
during  my  stay  in  Alexandria  and  I  spent  three  days  as  his 
guest.  | 

A  miracle  of  his.  One  day,  when  I  had  entered  his  room,  he  38 
said  to  me:  T  see  that  you  are  fond  of  travelling  and 
wandering  from  land  to  land’.  'Yes’,  I  replied,  T  am  fond  of 
it’,  although  there  had  not  as  yet  entered  my  mind  any 
thought  of  penetrating  to  such  distant  lands  as  India  and 
China.  Then  he  said:  ‘You  must  certainly,  if  God  will,  visit  my 
brother61  Farid  al-DIn  in  India,  and  my  brother  Rukn 

67  The  ritual  prayer  {salat)  ends  with  the  invocation  as-salamu  ‘alaikum, 
which  is  generally  regarded  as  addressed  to  the  believer’s  guardian  angels. 

58  Ibn  Battuta  selects  for  mention  chiefly  North  African  scholars  and 
devotees,  most  of  whom  are  not  otherwise  known.  Khalifa  b.  ‘Atiya,  d. 
1334,  was  noted  as  a  Malikite  scholar  and  teacher  (Durar,  II,  94). 

69  A  karama  is  ‘a  personal  distinction  granted  by  God  to  a  saint’,  as  dis¬ 
tinct  from  the  probative  miracle,  mu'jiza,  of  a  prophet. 

60  The  text  has  al-tarflq,  which  has  been  corrected  by  Dozy,  Suppl.  aux 
dictionnaires  arabes,  s.v. 

61  I.e.  brother  by  spiritual  affiliation,  as  the  term  usually  signifies  in  the 
language  of  the  saints  and  mystics. 


23 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

al-DIn  Zakariya  in  Sind,  and  my  brother  Burhan  al-DIn  in 
China,  and  when  you  reach  them  convey  to  them  a  greeting 
from  me/  I  was  amazed  at  his  prediction,  and  the  idea  of 
going  to  these  countries  having  been  cast  into  my  mind,  my 
wanderings  never  ceased  until  I  had  met  these  three  that  he 
named  and  conveyed  his  greeting  to  them.  When  I  bade  him 
farewell,  he  gave  me  some  coins  as  a  travelling  provision.  I 
kept  them  as  a  treasured  possession,  and  never  afterwards 
had  need  to  spend  them,  until  the  infidel  Indians  took  them 
from  me  at  sea  with  all  the  other  things  of  which  they 
stripped  me. 

Another  of  the  religious  at  Alexandria  was  the  shaikh 

39  Yaqut  |  al-Habashi  ('the  Ethiopian'),  a  man  of  outstanding 
gifts,  who  had  been  the  pupil  of  Abu’l-‘ Abbas  of  Murcia,  who 
in  his  turn  was  the  pupil  of  the  famous  saint  Abu'l-Hasan 
al-Shadhill,62  noted  for  his  great  miracles  and  his  high  degrees 
of  mystical  attainment. 

A  miracle  of  Abu’l-Hasan  al-Shadhill.  The  shaikh  Yaqut 
informed  me  on  the  authority  of  his  shaikh,  Abu’l-‘Abbas 
al-MursI,  that  Abu'l-Hasan  used  to  go  on  pilgrimage  every 
year.  His  custom  was  to  make  his  way  there  through  Upper 
Egypt,  stay  at  Mecca,  fasting  and  engaging  in  pious  exercises, 
during  the  month  of  Rajab63  and  the  following  months  until 
the  close  of  the  Pilgrimage,  visit  the  Holy  Tomb  [of  Muham¬ 
mad  at  al-Madina],  and  return  by  the  main  pilgrim  road  to 
to  the  town  where  he  resided.  One  year,  however  (it  was  the 
last  year  in  which  he  set  out),  he  said  to  his  attendant  ‘Take 
with  you  a  pickaxe,  a  basket,  aromatics  for  embalming,  and 
all  that  is  necessary  for  burying  the  dead'.  The  servant  said  | 

40  to  him  ‘Why  so,  O  my  master?',  and  he  replied  ‘In  Humai- 

62  Al-Shadhili  as  founder  of  one  of  the  greater  religious  brotherhoods  of 
Islam,  the  Shadhillya,  is  one  of  the  important  figures  in  medieval  mysticism. 
He  was  of  Moroccan  origin  and  initiation,  but  political  hostility  to  his 
activities  drove  him  to  Alexandria  where  he  remained,  the  centre  of  a  great 
popular  movement,  until  his  death  in  656/1258.  On  the  Shadhillya  brother¬ 
hood,  see  Depont  and  Coppolani,  Les  Confreries  religieuses  musulmanes 
(Algiers,  1897),  443  ff.  Yaqut  al-Habashi,  ‘noted  for  his  mystical  attain¬ 
ments  and  miracles’,  died  17  March  1332;  his  tomb  is  still  venerated  at 
Alexandria  in  the  mosque  known  as  Sidi  Yaqut  al-'Arshi,  which  is  close  to 
the  tomb  mosque  of  his  teacher  Abu’l-' Abbas  al-Mursi  (d.  1287):  Ibn 
Taghribirdi,  al-Nujum  al-Zahira,  IX,  295  and  note. 

63  The  seventh  month  of  the  Muhammadan  year  (see  p.  8,  n.  1),  the  pil¬ 
grimage  being  in  Dhu’l-Hijja,  the  twelfth  month. 

24 


THE  LITANY  OF  THE  SEA 

thira  you  shall  see’.  Now  Humaithira  is  in  the  region  of  Upper 
Egypt,  in  the  desert  of  ‘ Aidhab,  and  there  is  a  well  of  brackish 
water  there  and  a  great  many  hyenas.64  When  they  reached 
Humaithira,  the  shaikh  Abu’l-Hasan  made  a  complete 
ablution,  and  said  a  prayer  of  two  prostrations.  At  the  final 
prostration  in  his  prayers  God  (Great  and  Mighty  is  He)  took 
him  and  he  was  buried  there.  I  have  visited  his  tomb;  there 
is  a  tombstone  over  it,  upon  which  is  inscribed  his  name 
and  his  lineage  back  to  al-Hasan  the  son  of  ‘All  (on  him  be 
peace). 

The  Litany  of  the  Sea  attributed  to  al-Shadhili .65  He  made 
a  journey  every  year,  as  we  have  just  said,  through  Upper 
Egypt  and  across  the  sea  of  Judda  [Red  Sea],  and 
when  he  was  on  board  ship  he  used  to  recite  this  litany 
every  day.  His  disciples  still  recite  it  every  day,  and  it  runs  |  as  4i 
follows  : 

O  God,  O  Exalted,  O  Mighty,  0  Forbearing,  0  All-knowing, 
Thou  art  my  Lord  and  Thy  knowledge  is  my  sufficiency.66 
How  excellent  a  lord  is  my  Lord,  how  excellent  a  sufficiency 
my  sufficiency.  Thou  aidest  whom  Thou  wilt,  for  Thou  art 
the  Powerful,  the  Compassionate.  We  pray  Thee  to  guard  us 
from  sin  in  our  movements  and  stillnesses,  our  words  and 
designs,  and  in  the  stirring  of  doubts,  of  unworthy  sugges¬ 
tions  and  of  vain  imaginings,  that  veil  from  our  hearts  the 
perception  of  things  unseen.  Verily  the  Believers  have  been 
tried  and  grievously  shaken,  and  when  the  time-servers  and  the 
sick-hearted  say  * The  promises  of  God  and  His  Apostle  to  us 
are  naught  but  delusion  ,  do  Thou  establish  us  and  succour  us, 
and  subject  to  us  this  sea  as  Thou  didst  subject  the  sea  unto 
Moses,  and  as  Thou  didst  subject  the  fire  to  Abraham,  and  as 
Thou  didst  subject  the  mountains  and  the  iron  to  David,  and 

64  Ibn  Battuta  here  speaks  from  personal  experience;  see  below,  p.  68. 

65  The  hizb  al-bahr  or  ‘Litany  of  the  Sea'  which  follows  is  the  most  cele¬ 
brated  of  all  such  devotional  exercises.  Even  as  late  as  the  middle  of  last 
century  it  is  referred  to  and  summarily  translated  by  Burton  in  describing 
his  crossing  of  the  Red  Sea:  ‘Or,  if  we  see  the  prospect  of  a  storm  or  calm,  we 
draw  forth  and  piously  peruse  a  “Hizb  al-Bahr’’.  As  this  prayer  is  supposed 
to  make  all  safe  upon  the  ocean  wave,  I  will  not  selfishly  withhold  it  from 
the  British  reader.’  It  is  to  be  feared,  however,  that  perusal,  let  alone 
translation  or  precis,  must  lack  the  virtue  of  perfected  recitation. 

66  The  litany  is  full  of  Qur’anic  reminiscences;  direct  quotations  from  the 
Qur’an  are  printed  in  italic  type. 


25 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 


as  Thou  didst  subject  the  wind  and  the  demons  and  the  jinn 
to  Solomon.67  Subject  to  us  every  sea  that  is  Thine  on  earth 
and  in  heaven,  in  the  world  of  sense  and  in  the  invisible 
world,  the  sea  of  this  life  and  the  sea  of  the  life  to  come. 

42  Subject  to  us  everything,  O  |  Thou  in  Whose  Hand  is  the  rule 
over  all.  Kaf-Ha-Y a-  Ain-Sad.™  Succour  us,  for  Thou  art  the 
best  of  those  that  succour ;  hear  our  prayers,  for  Thou  art  the  best 
of  those  that  open  the  way ;  forgive  us  our  sins,  for  Thou  art  the 
best  of  pardoners)  show  mercy  upon  us,  for  Thou  art  the  best  of 
those  that  show  mercy)  give  us  our  daily  bread,  for  Thou  art  the 
best  of  sustainers.  Guide  us,  and  deliver  us  from  the  hand  of  the 
evildoers,  and  grant  us  a  fair  wind  according  to  Thy  know¬ 
ledge;  waft  it  upon  us  from  the  treasures  of  Thy  Mercy,  and 
carry  us  thereon  with  conveyance  of  Thy  favour,  [granting 
us]  therewith  preservation  from  sin  and  wellbeing  in  our 
spiritual  and  our  material  life  and  in  the  life  to  come;  verily 
Thou  art  disposer  of  all  things.  O  God,  smooth  for  us  our  affairs; 
give  peace  to  our  hearts  and  our  bodies,  and  grant  us  health 
and  wellbeing  in  our  spiritual  and  our  material  life.  Be  Thou 
our  Companion  in  our  journey,  and  Guardian  of  our  house¬ 
holds  in  our  absence.  Blot  out  the  faces  of  our  enemies,  and 

43  transform  them  into  vile  creatures  in  |  the  place  where  they 
be;  then  shall  they  not  be  able  to  go  nor  to  come  against  us. 
If  We  will,  We  shall  blot  out  their  sight,  and  they  shall  hasten 
one  with  another  to  the  Bridge ;69  how  then  shall  they  perceive?  If 
We  will,  We  shall  transform  them  in  their  place  and  they  shall 
not  be  able  to  go  forth  nor  shall  they  return.  Ya-Sin.  Faces  shall 
be  deformed.  ‘Ain-Mim.  Faces  shall  be  humbled  before  the 
Living,  the  Self-Subsistent,  and  frustrated  is  he  who  bears  a 
burden  of  wrong-doing.  Ta-Sin.  Ha-Mzm.  ‘ Ain-Sin-Qdf '.  He 
hath  let  loose  the  two  seas  that  meet  together,  between  them  is  a 
barrier,  they  cannot  pass.  Ha-Mim  (seven  times).  The  matter 
is  decreed,  Divine  aid  is  at  hand,  against  us  they  shall  not  be 


67  Allusions  to  various  Qur’anic  passages  which  relate  the  deliverance  of 
Abraham  from  a  fire,  the  instruction  of  David  in  the  art  of  metalworking, 
and  the  labours  of  the  demons  ( shaitans )  and  jinn  in  building  and  other 
works  for  Solomon. 

68  The  initial  letters  of  Sura  xix,  to  which  a  supernatural  power  was 
ascribed,  like  the  initial  letters  of  other  suras  which  follow  later. 

69  The  Sirat,  in  the  later  acceptation  of  the  Bridge  over  Hell,  familiar  to 
English  readers  from  Addison’s  Vision  of  Mirza. 

26 


A  RIOT  AT  ALEXANDRIA 

victorious.  Hd-Mim.  The  revelation  of  the  Book  is  from  God , 
the  Mighty ,  the  All-knowing ,  Who  pardoneth  sin  and  accepteth 
repentance,  Whose  chastisement  is  heavy,  the  Long-suffering ; 
there  is  no  god  but  He,  to  Him  is  the  way  [of  all  flesh].  In  the 
name  of  God  is  our  door,  |  Blessed  is  He  is  our  walls,  Ya-Stn  is  44 
our  roof,  Kaf-Hd-Y a-  Ain-Sad  is  our  sufficiency,  Ha-Mim 
‘ Ain-Sin-Qaf  is  our  defence.  And  God  will  suffice  thee  against 
them,  for  He  is  the  Hearing,  the  Knowing.  The  curtain  of  the 
Throne  is  extended  over  us,  the  Eye  of  God  is  watching  us,  in 
the  Might  of  God  none  can  harm  us.  God  is  behind  them,  en¬ 
compassing!  Nay,  it  is  a  glorious  Quran  in  a  Preserved  Tablet. 
God  is  the  best  in  keeping,  and  He  is  the  most  Merciful  of  them 
that  show  mercy.  Verily  my  patron  is  God,  who  hath  sent  down 
the  Book,  and  He  upholdeth  the  cause  of  the  righteous.  My 
sufficiency  is  God,  other  than  He  there  is  no  god ;  upon  Him  have 
I  put  my  trust  and  He  is  the  Lord  of  the  Glorious  Throne.  In  the 
Name  of  God,  with  Whose  Name  nothing  that  is  on  earth  or 
in  heaven  shall  suffer  harm,  and  He  is  the  Hearing,  the 
Knowing.  Each  one  has  attendant  angels  before  him,  watching 
over  him  at  the  command  of  God.  ‘There  is  no  Power  nor  Might 
save  in  God,  the  High,  the  Great/  | 

Anecdote.  The  following  incident  occurred  in  the  city  of  45 
Alexandria  in  the  year  27  [1327],  and  we  received  the  report 
of  it  at  Mecca  (God  ennoble  her!).70 

A  quarrel  broke  out  between  the  Muslims  and  the  Christian 
traders.  The  chief  of  police  in  Alexandria  was  a  man  called 
al-Karakl,  and  he  adopted  the  policy  of  protecting  the 
Europeans.  He  gave  orders  to  the  Muslims  to  assemble 
between  the  two  outer  walls  protecting  the  gate  of  the  city, 
and  he  shut  them  out  of  the  city  as  a  penalty  for  their  action. 
The  population  disapproved  of  this  and  thought  it  monstrous; 
they  broke  down  the  gate  and  made  a  riotous  assault  on  the 
governor’s  dwelling.  He  protected  himself  against  them  and 

70  The  incident  is  mentioned  in  all  the  Arabic  chronicles  of  the  time 
(al-Yafi%  al-‘UmarI,  etc.).  The  action  taken  by  the  Egyptian  authorities  on 
this  occasion  to  protect  the  merchants  is  probably  to  be  connected  with  the 
efforts  of  the  Papacy  at  this  time  to  stop  trade  with  Egypt  (see  Heyd, 
Commerce  du  Levant,  II,  43).  Mughultay  al- Jamal!  (d.  1330)  was  Ustadar 
(Master  of  the  Household)  and  vizier  at  this  time;  Tughan  al-Shams!  (d. 
1340)  was  chief  intendant  of  finances;  the  reputation  given  him  by  Ibn 
Battuta  is  confirmed  in  the  biographical  notices.  I  have  not  identified  al- 
Karakl  or  Ibn  Rawaha. 


27 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

fought  with  them  from  the  roof,  at  the  same  time  despatching 
pigeons  with  the  news  to  al-Malik  al-Nasir.  The  sultan  sent  an 
amir  named  al-Jamali  and  followed  him  up  by  another  amir 
known  as  Tughan,  a  stony-hearted  tyrant  and  suspect  in  his 
religion — it  was  said  that  he  used  to  worship  the  sun.  These 

46  two  entered  |  Alexandria,  arrested  the  notables  among  the 
civil  population  and  the  principal  merchants  of  the  city,  such 
as  the  family  of  al-Kubak  and  others,  and  took  large  sums  of 
money  from  them.  Tmad  al-Din  the  qadi  had  an  iron  shackle 
to  which  his  hands  were  attached  put  on  his  neck.  Subse¬ 
quently  the  two  amirs  put  to  death  thirty-six  of  the  men 
of  the  city,  and  had  each  man  cut  in  two  and  the  bodies 
placed  on  crosses  in  two  rows.  This  was  done  on  a  Friday;  the 
population,  going  out  as  usual  after  the  [midday]  prayer  to 
visit  the  cemetery,  found  their  executed  fellow-citizens 
hanging  there,  and  were  greatly  distressed  and  their  sorrows 
redoubled. 

Amongst  the  number  of  those  who  were  crucified  was  a 
merchant  of  substantial  fortune  known  as  Ibn  Rawaha.  He 
had  a  hall  fitted  out  as  an  armoury,  and  at  any  time  of  alarm 
or  of  fighting  he  equipped  from  his  store  a  hundred  or  two 
hundred  men  with  what  weapons  they  required.  In  this  city 
there  are  halls  of  this  kind  possessed  by  many  of  the  in¬ 
habitants.71  Ibn  Rawaha,  letting  his  tongue  run  away  with 
him,  said  to  the  two  amirs,  T  shall  guarantee  [the  main- 

47  tenance  of  order  in]  this  city;  |  at  any  time  that  disorder 
breaks  out  in  it,  let  me  be  given  the  responsibility  for  dealing 
with  it,  and  I  shall  spare  the  Sultan  the  pay  of  the  regular 
horsemen  and  footsoldiers’.  The  two  amirs,  however,  were 
angered  by  his  remark,  and  saying  ‘What  you  are  really 
aiming  at  is  rebellion  against  the  Sultan’  they  put  him  to 
death,  whereas  his  object  (God’s  mercy  upon  him)  was  only 
to  show  his  loyalty  and  fidelity  to  the  Sultan.  But  it  was 
through  that  that  he  came  to  his  death. 

During  my  stay  at  Alexandria  I  heard  tell  of  the  pious 
shaikh  Abu  ‘Abdallah  al-Murshidi,  who  lived  a  life  of  devotion 
in  retirement  from  the  world,  and  bestowed  gifts  from  the 

71  The  contemporary  al-‘UmarI  mentions  the  lofty  houses  of  Alexandria, 
which  were  strongly  built  with  high  walls  ‘for  fear  of  Frankish  raiders  and 
Arab  marauders’. 


28 


KOM  TOROUGA 


divine  store,72  for  he  was  indeed  one  of  the  great  saints  who 
enjoy  the  vision  of  the  unseen.  I  was  told  that  he  was  living  in 
solitary  retreat  at  the  village  of  Munyat  BanI  Murshid.  He 
had  a  hermitage  there  in  which  he  lived  alone,  with  neither 
servant  nor  companion.  He  was  sought  by  the  amirs  and 
ministers  of  state,  and  parties  of  men  in  all  ranks  of  life  used 
to  visit  him  every  day,  and  he  would  serve  them  all  with  food. 
Every  man  of  them  would  express  his  desire  to  eat  some  flesh 
or  fruit  or  sweetmeat  at  his  cell,  and  to  everyone  he  would 
bring  |  what  he  had  desired,  though  that  was  often  out  of  48 
season.  Doctors  of  the  law  used  to  come  to  him  to  ask  for 
appointment  to  office,  and  he  gave  appointments  or  dismissed 
from  office.  All  these  stories  were  carried  from  mouth  to 
mouth  far  and  wide,  and  al-Malik  al-Nasir  too  had  visited 
him  several  times  in  his  retreat. 

I  set  out  then  from  the  city  of  Alexandria  to  seek  this 
shaikh  (God  profit  us  by  him),  and  came  to  the  village  of 
Tarawja,73  which  is  a  half-day’s  journey  from  Alexandria.  It 
is  a  large  village,  having  a  qadi,  a  chief  of  police,  and  a  finan¬ 
cial  inspector,  and  its  people  are  hospitable  and  courteous. 

I  enjoyed  the  company  of  its  qadi  Safi  al-DIn,  its  preacher 
Fakhr  al-DIn,  and  a  worthy  resident  of  the  place  named 
Mubarak  and  addressed  as  Zain  al-DIn.  I  lodged  in  the  village 
with  a  worthy  man,  zealous  in  his  religious  devotions,  and 
highly  esteemed,  named  ‘Abd  al-Wahhab.  The  local  financial 
inspector  |  Zain  al-DIn  ibn  al-Wa/iz  entertained  me  and  49 
questioned  me  about  my  native  town  and  its  taxation.  When 
I  told  him  that  it  amounted  to  about  twelve  thousand  gold 
dinars,  he  was  astonished  and  said  to  me  ‘What  do  you  think 
of  this  village,  for  its  taxation  yields  seventy-two  thousand 
gold  dinars?’  The  reason  why  the  revenues  of  the  land  of 
Egypt  are  so  large  is  that  all  the  landed  estates  belong  to  the 
Treasury.74 

72  It  was  believed  that  saints  of  special  merit  were  sometimes  permitted 
to  draw  upon  the  divine  resources  of  creation  to  supply  their  needs. 
Muhammad  b.  ‘Abdallah  al-Murshidi  (d.  1337)  is  the  subject  of  a  lengthy 
biographical  notice  by  Ibn  Hajar  ( Durar ,  III,  462-4),  which  confirms  from 
a  number  of  sources  the  reputation  which  Ibn  Battuta  gives  him  in  this 
passage. 

73  Now  Kom  Torouga. 

74  The  treasury  fixed  the  contributions  of  all  villages  and  townships  on  the 
basis  of  periodic  cadastral  surveys  (the  latest  of  which  had  been  carried  out 

29 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

I  went  on  from  this  village  and  reached  the  town  of 
Damanhur,  which  is  a  big  town,  yielding  large  revenues  and 
possessed  of  remarkable  attractions,  the  metropolis  of  the 
entire  district  of  al-Buhaira75  and  pole  upon  which  the  axis  of 
its  affairs  revolves.  Its  qadl  at  this  time  was  Fakhr  al-DIn 
ibn  Miskln,  a  Shafi'ite  jurist,  who  was  [subsequently] 
appointed  to  the  qadl-ship  of  Alexandria,  when  Tmad  al-DIn 
al-Kindl  was  divested  of  it  on  account  of  the  disturbance  the 
story  of  which  we  have  related  above.  I  heard  from  a  trust- 

50  worthy  source  |  that  Ibn  Miskln  gave  twenty-five  thousand 
dirhams,  which,  exchanged  into  gold  dinars,  is  equal  to  a 
thousand  dinars,76  for  the  appointment  to  the  qadl-ship  of 
Alexandria. 

We  then  travelled  to  the  town  of  Fawwa.77  This  town  has 
an  attractive  appearance,  and  is  as  fair  as  it  looks;  it  has  a 
great  many  orchards  and  a  remarkable  supply  of  valuable 
products.  In  it  is  the  grave  of  the  saintly  shaikh  Abul-Najah, 
of  celebrated  name,  the  seer  of  that  country. 

The  retreat78  of  the  shaikh  Abu  ‘Abdallah  al-Murshidl, 
whom  I  had  come  to  visit,  lies  close  by  the  town  and 
separated  from  it  by  a  canal.  On  reaching  the  town  I  passed 
through  it,  and  arriving  at  the  cell  of  this  shaikh  before  the 
hour  of  afternoon  prayer,  I  saluted  him.  I  found  with  him  the 
amir  Saif  al-DIn  Yalmalak,  one  of  the  officers  of  the  Khas- 
sikiya  [the  sultan’s  bodyguard].  His  name  begins  with  yal- 

51  and  the  following  m  and  l  are  both  pronounced  with  an  a\  |  the 


in  1316),  and  the  ‘fiefs'  allotted  to  military  feudatories  consisted  only  of  the 
revenues  accruing  from  specified  districts,  without  carrying  any  rights  of 
property  in  the  land.  The  revenues  of  Tarawja  were  allotted  to  the  private 
treasury  of  the  sultan  (Ibn  Duqmaq,  V,  105). 

75  The  province  forming  the  north-west  portion  of  the  Delta,  the  name  of 
which  (‘the  Lake’),  derived  from  Lake  Mareotis,  is  still  in  use  at  the  present 
day.  Here  and  frequently  a  few  phrases  in  rhetorical  rhyming  prose  intro¬ 
duce  the  description  of  the  town. 

76  Properly  1,250,  at  the  ordinary  rate  of  exchange  of  20  dirhams  to  the 
dinar. 

77  Generally  read  and  pronounced  Fuwwa,  on  the  Rosetta  branch  of  the 
Nile,  sixteen  miles  south-east  of  Rosetta,  of  which  at  one  time  it  was  a 
commercial  rival. 

78  Ibn  Battuta  uses  the  North  African  term  zawiya,  which,  from  its 
original  meaning  of  ‘corner’,  had  come  to  mean  cell  and  then  ‘place  of  retreat 
of  religious  and  ascetics’,  finally,  like  the  eastern  ribat  and  khangah,  a 
convent  or  monastic  seminary. 


30 


SHAIKH  AL-MURSHIDI 

people  call  him  'almalik'  ['the  king’]  but  they  are  wrong.79 
This  amir  had  encamped  with  his  troops  outside  the  cell. 
When  I  entered  the  shaikh's  presence  (God's  mercy  upon 
him)  he  rose  to  meet  me,  embraced  me,  and  calling  for  food 
invited  me  to  eat.  He  was  dressed  in  a  black  woollen  tunic. 
When  the  hour  of  the  afternoon  prayer  arrived,  he  set  me  in 
front  as  prayer-leader  (imam),  and  did  the  same  on  every 
occasion  when  I  was  at  his  cell  at  the  times  of  prayer  during 
my  stay  with  him.  When  I  prepared  to  sleep,  he  said  to  me 
'Go  up  to  the  roof  of  the  cell  and  sleep  there',  for  this  was 
during  the  summer  heats.  1  said  to  the  amir  'In  the  name  of 
God'80  but  he  replied  ‘There  is  none  of  us  but  has  an  appointed 
place'.81  So  I  ascended  to  the  roof  and  found  there  a  straw 
mattress  and  a  leather  mat,  vessels  for  ritual  ablutions,  a  jar 
of  water  and  a  drinking-cup,  and  I  lay  down  there  to  sleep. 

A  miracle  of  this  shaikh.  That  night,  as  I  was  sleeping  on  the 
roof  of  the  cell,  |  I  dreamed  that  I  was  on  the  wing  of  a  huge 
bird  which  flew  with  me  in  the  direction  of  the  qibla82  then 
made  towards  the  Yaman,  then  eastwards,  then  went  to¬ 
wards  the  south,  and  finally  made  a  long  flight  towards  the 
east,  alighted  in  some  dark  and  greenish  country,  and  left  me 
there.  I  was  astonished  at  this  dream  and  said  to  myself,  'If 
the  shaikh  shows  me  that  he  knows  of  my  dream,  he  is  all 
that  they  say  that  he  is’.  When  I  rose  in  the  morning  for  the 
dawn  prayer,  he  bade  me  go  in  front  to  direct  it  as  imam , 
after  which  the  amir  Yalmalak  came  to  him,  bade  him  fare¬ 
well,  and  went  on  his  way.  All  the  other  visitors  who  were 
there  also  took  leave  of  him  and  departed,  after  he  had  fur¬ 
nished  them  with  a  travelling-provision  of  small  cakes. 
Later  on,  when  I  had  prayed  the  forenoon  prayer,83  he  called 

79  Despite  Ibn  Battuta’s  assertion,  the  historical  sources  and  inscriptions 
show  his  name  as  Almalik  or  Almalik:  see  Ibn  Hajar,  Durar,  I,  41 1,  and 
L.  A.  Mayer,  Saracenic  Heraldry  (Oxford,  1933),  59-62.  Mayer’s  doubts 
(p.  60,  n.  1)  whether  the  same  person  is  meant  seem  to  be  unfounded. 
Almalik  died  under  arrest  in  1346. 

80  Apparently  a  polite  manner  of  deprecating  the  preference  shown  by 
the  shaikh  to  himself. 

81  Qur’an,  xxxvii,  164. 

82 1.e.  towards  Mecca,  the  Ka‘ba  of  which  forms  the  qibla  or  ‘direction’ 
towards  which  all  Muslims  face  in  their  prayers. 

83  One  of  the  supererogatory  prayers  (over  and  above  the  five  prescribed 
daily  for  every  believer),  performed  in  the  morning,  about  an  hour  before 
noon. 

D  31  T.O.I.B. 


52 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

me  and  revealed  to  me  his  knowledge  of  my  dream.  So  I 
related  it  to  him  and  he  said:  ‘You  shall  make  the  Pilgrimage 
[to  Mecca]  and  visit  [the  tomb  of]  the  Prophet  [at  al-Madlna], 
and  you  shall  travel  through  the  lands  of  al-Yaman  and  al- 
‘Iraq,  the  land  of  the  Turks,  and  the  land  of  India.  You  will 

53  stay  there  for  a  long  time  |  and  you  will  meet  there  my  brother 
Dilshad  the  Indian,  who  will  rescue  you  from  a  danger  into 
which  you  will  fall/  He  then  gave  me  a  travelling-provision 
of  some  small  cakes  and  silver  coins,  and  I  bade  him  farewell 
and  departed.  Never  since  parting  from  him  have  I  met  on  my 
journeys  aught  but  good  fortune,  and  his  blessed  powers 
have  stood  me  in  good  stead;  besides,  I  have  never  met  his 
equal  amongst  all  whom  I  have  seen,  except  the  saint  Sldi 
Muhammad  al-Mulah84  in  the  land  of  India. 

We  rode  after  that  to  the  town  of  al-Nahrarlya,85  a  place  of 
wide  extent  and  recent  construction,  the  bazaars  of  which 
are  a  fine  sight.  Its  amir  was  a  man  of  high  rank,  named 
al-Sa‘dI;  his  son  was  in  the  service  of  the  king  of  India,  and 
we  shall  speak  of  him  later.  Its  qadl  was  Sadr  al-Din  Sulaiman 
al-Malikl,  one  of  the  leading  jurists  of  the  Malik!  school.  He 
travelled  to  al-Traq  as  an  ambassador  from  al-Malik  al- 
Nasir,86  and  was  [subsequently]  appointed  to  the  qadi-ship 
of  the  towns  belonging  to  the  province  of  al-Gharblya.  He  has 
a  beautiful  appearance  and  a  fine  figure.  Its  preacher  was  | 

54  Sharaf  al-Din  al-Sakhawi,  a  saintly  man. 

From  there  I  rode  to  the  town  of  Abyar,  a  place  of  ancient 
construction  and  fragrant  environment,  with  many  mosques 
and  of  exceeding  beauty.  It  is  in  the  vicinity  of  al-Nahrariya, 
and  separated  from  it  by  the  Nile.87  At  Abyar  are  manu- 

84  Al-mulah  (‘the  God-intoxicated’)  was  sometimes  used  as  a  term  —  wall, 
‘saint’.  But  neither  of  the  two  shaikhs  named  Muhammad  whom  the  travel¬ 
ler  mentions  in  his  account  of  India  seems  to  correspond  to  the  person 
mentioned  here. 

86  Situated  opposite  Abyar  (see  below,  n.  87).  Ibn  Duqmaq  (V,  86),  who 
calls  it  al-Nahririyah,  speaks  of  it  as  a  large  town  with  fine  markets,  covered 
bazaars  and  hostelries,  and  refers  to  its  wealthy  merchants. 

86  This  embassy  was  sent  in  1304,  in  return  for  an  embassy  despatched 
to  the  Sultan  of  Egypt  by  the  Mongol  Ilkhan  of  Persia  and  Iraq,  Uljaitu 
Kharbanda,  on  his  accession.  Sadr  al-Din  Sulaiman  b.  Ibrahim  b.  Sulaiman 
(d.  1334)  was  the  butt  of  the  Egyptian  wits  for  the  length  of  his  beard 
( Durar ,  II,  140;  III,  346). 

87  Now  Ibyar  or  Ebyar,  a  short  distance  north  of  Kafr  az-Zaiyat,  on  the 
Thermutiac  branch  of  the  Nile.  Ibn  Duqmaq  (V,  99)  after  mentioning  its 

32 


IBYAR 


factured  fine  cloths,  which  fetch  a  high  price  in  Syria,  al- 
‘Iraq,  Cairo  and  elsewhere,  but  it  is  an  odd  thing  that  by  the 
people  of  al-Nahrarlya,  which  is  so  close  to  Abyar,  the  cloths 
which  are  manufactured  there  are  thought  nothing  of  and 
disliked.  I  met  at  Abyar  the  qadi  of  the  town,  Tzz  al-DIn 
al-Malihi  al-Shafi%  a  man  of  kindly  nature  and  greatly 
esteemed. 

I  was  present  with  him  once  on  the  day  of  the  Cavalcade. 
This  is  the  name  which  they  give  to  the  day  of  observing  the 
new  moon  of  [the  month  of]  Ramadan.  The  custom  they  ob¬ 
serve  on  this  occasion  is  as  follows.  The  scholars  (fuqaha)  |  and  55 
men  of  note  in  the  town  assemble  at  the  qadi’s  house  after 
the  afternoon  prayer  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  the  month  of 
Sha'ban.88  The  naqib  of  the  turban-wearers,89  richly  dressed 
and  in  fine  array,  stands  at  the  door.  As  each  scholar  or  not¬ 
able  arrives  this  functionary  meets  him  and  ushers  him  in 
with  the  words  Tn  the  name  of  God!  Our  Master  So-and-so 
al-DIn'.  The  qadi  and  those  present  with  him,  on  hearing  this, 
rise  for  the  newcomer,  while  the  naqib  guides  him  to  his  seat 
in  a  place  befitting  his  rank.  When  they  are  fully  assembled 
there,  the  qadi  mounts,  and  all  those  with  him  mount  too 
[and  ride  off  in  procession]  followed  by  the  entire  population 
of  the  town,  men,  women  and  children.  They  make  their  way 
to  an  eminence  outside  the  town,  called  by  them  the  ‘Obser¬ 
vatory  of  the  Crescent  Moon’,  this  place  having  previously 
been  furnished  with  carpets  and  rugs,  and  there  the  qadi  and 

bazaars,  resident  merchants,  etc.,  also  speaks  of  its  fine  textiles  and  says 
that  its  linen  cloaks  fetch  over  100  dirhams. 

88  This  is  the  first  clear  case  of  Ibn  Battuta’s  artificial  method  of  compila¬ 
tion,  in  which  he  represents  all  the  journeys  which  he  carried  out  through 
one  country  on  different  occasions  as  having  been  made  on  his  first  visit. 
Altogether  he  travelled  between  Alexandria  and  Cairo  some  three  or  four 
times,  and  it  must  have  been  on  one  of  these  later  occasions  that  he  visited 
Abyar  and  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  following  towns.  It  was  certainly  not  in 
726  (1326),  since  by  the  29th  of  Sha'ban  (31  July)  of  that  year,  as  he  states 
later  (see  below,  p.  71),  he  had  already  been  to  Cairo,  gone  through  Upper 
Egypt  to  ‘Aidhab,  returned  thence  to  Cairo,  and  was  on  his  way  to  Damas¬ 
cus,  which  he  reached  on  9th  Ramadan  (9  August) . 

89  In  the  guild  organizations  the  naqib  was  the  superintendent  or  head  of 
each  guild;  on  the  naqib  al-ashraf  see  below,  p.  258.  The  Turban-wearers 
(muta‘ amminln)  or  men  of  learning  were  also  organized  as  a  guild,  but  the 
term  naqib  seems  to  be  used  here  (as  later  in  the  description  of  the  palace 
ceremonial  at  Delhi)  not  in  the  sense  of  superintendent  (who  in  this  guild 
was  called  ra’is),  but  in  that  of  ‘usher’  or  ‘roll-keeper’. 

33 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 


his  cortege  alight  and  observe  the  crescent  moon.  This  done, 
they  return  to  the  town  after  the  sunset  prayer,  preceded  by 

56  candles,  torches,  and  folding  lanterns.90 1  The  shopkeepers  put 
lighted  candles  in  their  stalls,  and  the  people  accompany  the 
qadl  to  his  residence  before  dispersing.  This  custom  they 
carry  out  every  year. 

I  went  next  to  the  town  of  al-Mahalla  al-Kablra,91  a  place 
of  great  importance  and  impressive  buildings,  with  a  large 
population  whose  community  combines  all  agreeable  qualities. 
This  town  has  a  chief  qadl  and  a  governor-general.  The  chief 
qadl,  who  was  Tzz  al-Din  Ibn  Khatlb  al-Ushmunain,92  was 
lying  on  a  bed  of  sickness  when  I  arrived  there,  in  an  orchard 
which  he  possessed  at  a  distance  of  two  farsakhs93  from  the 
town.  I  set  out  to  visit  him  in  the  company  of  his  substitute, 
the  jurist  Abu’l-Qasim  b.  Bannun  al-Maliki  of  Tunis,  and 
Sharaf  al-Din  al-Damlrl,  the  qadl  of  Mahallat  Manuf.94  We 
spent  a  day  with  him.  I  heard  from  him,  when  the  conversa¬ 
tion  turned  to  the  subject  of  religious  ascetics,  that  at  a  day’s 
journey  from  al-Mahalla  al-Mabira  was  the  district  of  al- 
Burlus  and  Nastaraw,95  which  was  the  land  of  the  ascetics, 

57  and  where  |  the  tomb  of  shaikh  Marzuq,  one  of  those  who 
enjoyed  ecstatic  visions,  was  to  be  found.96 1  set  out  therefore 
to  visit  the  district,  and  stopped  at  the  hermitage  (zawiya)  of 
the  shaikh  just  mentioned.  That  district  abounds  in  date 
palms  and  fruit-trees,  in  sea  fowl,  and  the  fish  known  as 

00  The  fanus  or  folding  lantern  is  described  by  Lane  as  ‘composed  of 
waxed  cloth  strained  over  rings  of  wire,  and  a  top  and  bottom  of  tinned 
copper’. 

01  Now  al-Mahalla  al-Kubra,  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Gharbiya,  a  well- 
known  and  prosperous  town,  at  this  time  one  of  the  chief  centres  of  the 
textile  trade. 

02  ‘Abd  al-‘Aziz  b.  Ahmad  b.  ‘Othmanal-Hakkari,  d.  1327  ( Durar ,  II,  368). 

03  The  Arabic  farsakh,  derived  intermediately  from  the  old  Persian 
parasang,  is  defined  as  12,000  ells  =5762.8  metres,  but  must  have  varied 
considerably  in  practice. 

04  A  small  town  a  few  miles  to  the  north  of  Tanta. 

05  Burlus  or  Burullus  is  the  name  given  to  the  tongue  of  land  between 
Lake  Burullus  and  the  sea,  east  of  the  opening  known  as  the  Sebennytic 
mouth;  Nastaraw  (in  Ibn  Duqmaq  (V,  113)  Nastarawa)  was  that  of  the  simi¬ 
lar  peninsula  to  the  east  of  Rosetta  and  west  of  the  Sebennytic  mouth,  and 
in  medieval  Arabic  gave  its  name  to  the  Rosetta  or  Bolbinitic  mouth.  The 
town  of  Nastarawa  is  described  by  Ibn  Duqmaq  as  lying  between  the  sea  and 
the  lake,  half  a  day’s  journey  from  the  Nile. 

06  Not  identified. 


34 


BURULLUS 


al-buri .97  Their  town  is  called  Mai  tin; 98  it  is  situated  on  the 
shore  of  the  lake  formed  by  the  junction  of  the  water  of  the 
Nile  and  the  water  of  the  sea,  known  as  the  Lake  of  Tinnls," 
and  Nastaraw  is  not  far  from  it.  I  stopped  in  the  latter  place 
at  the  hermitage  of  Shaikh  Shams  ad-Dln  al-FalawI,  one  of 
the  religious.  Tinnls  was  formerly  a  great  and  famous  town, 
but  it  is  now  in  ruins.100 

Ibn  Juzayy  remarks:  From  this  town  of  Tinnls  is  derived 
the  designation  of  the  celebrated  poet  Abu’l-Fath  ibn  Waqi‘ 
[al-TinnlsI],  who  was  the  author  of  these  lines  on  its 
channel: 

Rise,  bear  me  the  cup,  for  the  strait  is  in  tumult,  and  the 

gale  sets  astreaming  the  locks  of  the  rushes;  | 

How  like,  as  they  bend  in  the  wind’s  caresses,  to  a  lover  58 

who  dons  a  silk-tasselled  turban, 

And  the  sky  is  clothed  in  a  musky  mantle  which  the 

lightnings  have  broidered  in  thread  of  gold. 

Al-Burlus  is  sometimes  spelt  al-Burullus,  and  by  Abu 
Bakr  ibn  Nuqta  al-Barallus.  It  is  on  the  sea-coast,  and  a 
strange  event  which  happened  in  it  is  related  by  Abu 
‘Abdallah  al-Razi,  who  had  it  from  his  father.  The  qadl  of 
al-Burlus,  who  was  a  pious  man,  went  out  one  night  to  the 
Nile,  and  while  he  performed  his  ablution  with  scrupulous 
care  and  prayed  whatever  it  was  he  might  be  praying,101  he 
heard  someone  saying: 

97  The  name  of  this  fish,  a  species  of  mullet,  is  derived  from  the  medieval 
town  of  Bura,  on  the  coast  to  the  north-west  of  Damietta.  It  is  from  the 
burl  that  the  Italian  caviare  ( bottargo )  is  obtained:  see  also  below,  p.  37, 
n.  104. 

98  In  error  for  Baltlm,  which  is  still  the  administrative  centre  of  the 
ma’muriya  of  al-Burullus. 

99  Ibn  Battuta  has  evidently  confused  Lake  Burullus  with  the  Lake  of 
Tinnls  (Lake  Menzalah) . 

100  Tinnis,  the  memory  of  which  is  preserved  in  the  site  of  Tell  Tenis  in  an 
island  in  Lake  Menzalah,  the  ancient  Tanis  and  biblical  Zoan,  was  in  the 
tenth  and  eleventh  centuries  the  chief  seat  of  the  weaving  industry  in  Egypt 
and  noted  for  the  unsurpassed  fineness  of  its  textiles  (referred  to  in  the 
following  verses).  It  suffered  severely  during  the  crusades  (when  it  was 
repeatedly  sacked),  but  the  financial  exactions  upon  those  engaged  in  the 
industry,  which  was  a  government  monopoly,  were  probably  the  decisive 
factor  in  its  ruin.  The  town  was  finally  destroyed  by  al-Malik  al-Kamil  in 
1227  as  a  precaution  against  the  threatened  Crusade  of  Frederick  II. 

101  Literally,  ‘What  God  willed  that  he  should  pray’. 

35 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

Save  for  your  men  who  fast  from  day  to  day, 

And  those  who  watch  their  dues  of  prayer  to  pay, 

Your  earth  at  mom  would  quake  beneath  your  feet, 

For  evil  folk  are  ye  and  heedless  aye.  | 

59  The  qadl  said:  T  cut  short  my  prayer  and  cast  my  eyes  around 
me,  but  I  saw  no  one  and  heard  not  a  sound,  so  I  realized 
that  it  was  a  messenger  of  reproof  sent  from  God  Most 
High/ 

(Resumes.)  I  travelled  next  through  a  sandy  region  to  the 
city  of  Dimyat  [Damietta].  It  is  a  city  of  spacious  quarters 
and  with  a  diversity  of  fruits,  admirably  laid  out,  and  en¬ 
joying  a  share  of  every  good  thing.  Its  name  is  generally 
written  as  Dhimyat,  and  it  is  so  spelled  by  the  imam  Abu 
Muhammad  ‘Abdallah  b.  ‘All  al-Rushatl.  But  the  learned 
imam  Sharaf  al-Dln  Abu  Muhammad  ‘Abd  al-Mu’min  b. 
Khalaf  al-Dimyati,  the  doyen  of  the  Traditionalists,102  used 
to  spell  it  with  a  plain  D,  and  follow  that  up  by  contradicting 
al-Rushati  and  others,  and  he  knows  best  the  way  to  spell  the 
name  of  his  own  town.  The  city  of  Dimyat  lies  on  the  bank  of 
the  Nile,  and  the  people  in  the  houses  next  to  the  river  draw 

60  water  from  it  |  in  buckets.  Many  of  the  houses  have  steps 
leading  down  to  the  Nile.103  Banana  trees  are  especially 
abundant  there,  and  their  fruit  is  carried  to  Cairo  in  boats. 
Its  sheep  and  goats  are  allowed  to  pasture  at  liberty  day  and 
night,  and  for  this  reason  the  saying  goes  of  Dimyat,  ‘Its  wall 
is  a  sweetmeat  and  its  dogs  are  sheep’.  No  one  who  enters  the 
city  may  afterwards  leave  it  except  by  the  governor’s  seal. 
Persons  of  repute  have  a  seal  stamped  on  a  piece  of  paper, 
which  they  show  to  the  gatekeepers;  other  persons  have  the 
seal  stamped  on  their  forearms  and  must  show  that. 

Sea-fowl  [are  sold]  in  this  city  in  large  quantities  and  are 
exceedingly  fat;  in  it  there  are  to  be  had  also  various  pre¬ 
parations  of  buffalo  milk,  which  are  unequalled  for  sweetness 

102  1217-1306;  he  was  reputed  to  have  heard  traditions  from  1250  scholars 
(Durar,  II,  417). 

103  After  the  second  capture  of  Damietta  by  the  crusaders  in  the  Crusade 
of  St.  Louis  (1249-50)  the  old  city  was  destroyed,  as  noted  below,  and  a  new 
city  built  on  a  safer  site  further  inland.  It  continued  to  be  strongly  guarded 
and  a  naval  base  was  maintained  there  by  the  Mamluk  sultans.  It  was  for 
this  reason  that  the  restrictions  on  movement  described  below  were  enforced. 
I  have  found  no  explanation  of  the  saying  which  follows  about  its  wall. 


D AMIETTA 


and  delicious  taste,  and  the  fish  called  al-buri ,104  which  is 
exported  from  there  to  Syria,  Anatolia,  and  Cairo.  Outside 
the  town  there  is  an  island  lying  between  the  sea  and  the 
river,  called  al-Barzakh.105  On  this  island  there  is  a  mosque  | 
and  a  hermitage,  in  which  I  met  its  shaikh,  known  as  Ibn  61 
Qufl,  and  I  spent  the  night  preceding  a  Friday  in  his  com¬ 
pany.  With  him  were  a  number  of  pious  poor  brethren,106 
devoted  to  the  religious  life  and  of  excellent  character,  who 
passed  the  night  in  prayers,  recitation  of  the  Qur'an,  and 
liturgical  exercises. 

The  present  town  of  Dimyat  is  of  recent  construction;  the 
old  city  was  that  destroyed  by  the  Franks  in  the  time  of  al- 
Malik  al-Salih.107  In  it  is  the  hermitage  of  Shaikh  Jamal 
al-Dln  al-SawI,  who  set  the  example  which  is  followed  by  the 
group  known  as  the  Qarandariya;108  these  are  the  persons 
who  shave  off  their  beards  and  eyebrows.  At  this  time  there 
was  living  in  the  hermitage  the  Shaikh  Fat'h  al-Takrurf. 

Anecdote.  It  is  said  that  the  reason  which  led  Shaikh  Jamal 
al-Dln  al-SawI  to  shave  off  his  beard  and  eyebrows  was  this. 

104  See  p.  35,  n.  97  above.  ‘The  Bourri  or  mullet,  is  the  most  beneficial  of 
all  to  the  fishermen  [of  Lake  Menzalah],  who  open  the  females  and  take  out 
the  roe,  of  which  they  make  boutargue  by  salting  [and  drying  it  in  the  sun], 
and  vend  it  through  all  Egypt.  The  various  outlets  of  the  lake  to  the  Nile 
and  Mediterranean  being  full  of  islands,  rushes,  insects,  and  herbs,  the  river 
and  sea-fish  swarm  and  multiply  here  infinitely;  supplying  two  thousand 
fishermen,  and  clouds  of  birds,  without  apparent  diminution.  .  .  .  The  waters 
of  the  lake  are  covered  with  wild  geese,  ducks,  teal,  divers,  and  the  ibis.  .  .  . 
Far  as  the  eye  can  reach  they  cover  its  surface’:  Savary,  Letters  on  Egypt, 
Eng.  trans.,  I,  334-6. 

105  Literally,  ‘the  Isthmus’.  This  island  had  a  tower  from  which  chains 
extended  across  the  river  on  either  side  to  prevent  the  passage  of  raiding 
vessels. 

106  Arabic  faqlr,  plural  fuqara’;  one  who  has  devoted  himself  to  the  life 
of  poverty  and  dependence  upon  God,  is  the  term  (corresponding  to  the 
Persian  darwish)  applied  to  the  religious  mendicant,  whether  living  in  a 
monastery  {rib at,  khanqah,  zawiya),  or,  as  was  more  usual,  wandering  from 
place  to  place. 

107  Ibn  Battuta  is  in  error  here;  the  old  city  was  razed  by  the  Mamluk 
sultan  Aibek  after  the  Crusade  of  St.  Louis,  to  prevent  its  recapture  by  the 
Franks.  The  old  city  was  on  the  site  of  the  modern  village  of  Esba. 

108  These  are  the  wandering  darwlshes,  without  organization  or  rite,  and 
antinomian  in  doctrine  and  practice,  known  generally  as  the  Calendars 
(Qalandariya) :  see  E.I.,  s.v.  Kalandariyya,  and  M.  T.  Titus,  Indian  Islam 
(Oxford,  1930),  129.  Jamal  ad-Dln  al-SawI  or  al-Sawaql  (i.e.  of  Saveh,  see 
next  note)  studied  in  Damascus  between  1210  and  1225  and  from  there 
removed  to  Damietta. 


37 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

62  He  was  a  man  of  fine  figure  and  handsome  |  face,  and  a 
woman  belonging  to  Sawa109  conceived  a  passion  for  him,  and 
made  a  habit  of  sending  him  letters,  of  intercepting  him  in 
the  streets,  and  inviting  him  to  fulfil  her  desires.  He  for  his 
part  rejected  all  her  advances  with  scorn.  When  she  was 
baffled  by  his  refusals,  she  tricked  him  by  sending  an  old 
woman  who  posted  herself  with  a  sealed  letter  in  her  hand 
outside  a  certain  house  on  his  way  to  the  mosque.  As  he 
passed  by  her,  she  said  to  him  ‘Sir,  can  you  read?’  He  said 
‘Yes’.  ‘This  letter’,  she  told  him,  ‘has  reached  me  from  my 
son;  I  wish  you  would  read  it  to  me.’  He  consented,  but  when 
he  opened  the  letter  she  said  to  him:  ‘Sir,  my  son  has  a  wife, 
and  she  is  in  the  vestibule  of  the  house.  Would  you  be  so  kind 
as  to  read  it  between  the  outer  and  inner  doors  of  the  house, 
so  that  she  may  hear  it?’  He  agreed  to  do  as  she  asked,  and 
when  he  was  between  the  two  doors  the  old  woman  locked 
the  outer  door,  and  the  woman  herself  came  out  with  her 

63  attendants.  They  seized  |  him  and  carried  him  into  the  inner 
apartments,  where  the  woman  tried  to  seduce  him.110  When 
he  saw  that  there  was  no  way  out  for  him,  he  said  ‘I  shall  do 
as  you  wish,  so  show  me  the  closet’,  and  she  showed  it  to  him. 
He  took  water  in  with  him,  and  as  he  had  in  his  possession  a 
sharp  razor,  he  shaved  off  his  beard  and  eyebrows  and  came 
out  before  her.  She,  horrified  at  his  appearance  and  indignant 
at  what  he  had  done,  ordered  him  to  be  put  out.  Since  God 
preserved  him  from  temptation  by  this  means,  he  retained 
the  same  appearance  ever  after,  and  all  those  who  follow  his 
Way111  shave  the  head,  beard,  and  eyebrows. 

A  miracle  of  this  shaikh.  The  story  goes  that  when  he  came 
to  the  city  of  Dimyat  he  never  quitted  its  cemetery.  There 
was  in  the  town  a  qadl  known  as  Ibn  al-‘Am!d,  who  went  out 
one  day  to  the  funeral  of  one  of  the  notables,  and  seeing  the 

64  Shaikh  Jamal  al-Dln  in  the  cemetery  said  to  him  |  ‘You  are 
the  innovating112  shaikh’.  He  replied  ‘And  you  are  the  ignorant 

109  Saveh,  a  city  in  Persia,  halfway  between  Hamadan  and  Teheran. 

110  The  phrase  deliberately  conveys  a  parallel  with  the  story  of  Yusuf  and 
Zalikha  (Joseph  and  Potiphar’s  wife)  in  Qur’an,  xii,  23. 

111  Tariqa,  the  ‘way’  of  spiritual  training  and  observances  peculiar  to  each 
of  the  religious  brotherhoods,  and  eventually  used  to  denote  the  brother¬ 
hood  itself. 

112  I.e.  introducer  of  heretical  doctrines  or  practices. 

38 


DAMIETTA 


qadi,  riding  on  your  mule  among  the  tombs,  although  you 
know  that  a  man  should  be  shown  the  same  respect  in  death 
as  in  life’.  The  qadi  said  to  him  ‘But  worse  than  that  is  your 
shaving  off  your  beard'.  'Is  it  to  me  that  you  refer?'  said  the 
shaikh;  then  bowing  his  head  to  his  knees  he  raised  it  again, 
and  lo!  he  had  a  magnificent  black  beard.  The  qadi  was 
astonished,  as  were  all  those  who  were  in  his  company,  and 
dismounted  from  his  mule  [as  a  mark  of  respect]  to  him.  The 
shaikh  then  bowed  his  head  a  second  time  and  lo!  he  had  a 
a  fine  white  beard.  Then  he  bowed  his  head  a  third  time,  and 
when  he  raised  it  again,  he  had  no  beard,  just  as  he  appeared 
to  begin  with.  The  qadi  kissed  his  hand,  and  becoming  his 
pupil,  built  him  a  fine  hermitage  and  spent  the  rest  of  his  life 
in  his  company.  When  at  length  the  shaikh  died  he  was  buried 
in  his  hermitage,  and  the  qadi,  when  his  own  death  was  at 
hand,  gave  instructions  that  he  should  be  buried  at  the  door 
of  the  hermitage,  so  that  every  visitor  to  the  tomb  of  the 
shaikh  should  tread  upon  his  grave. 

Outside  Dimyat  is  |  the  sanctuary  known  as  Shata,113  a  65 
place  where  the  divine  power114  is  manifested.  It  is  visited  by 
people  from  all  parts  of  Egypt.  For  this  pilgrimage  there  are 
certain  fixed  days  in  the  year.  Also  in  the  environs  of  the 
city  and  in  the  midst  of  its  groves,  there  is  a  place  called  al- 
Munya;115  living  there  was  a  worthy  shaikh  known  as  Ibn 
al-Nu'man,  whose  hermitage  I  visited  and  with  whom  I  spent 
one  night. 

There  was  in  Dimyat,  at  the  time  of  my  stay  there,  a 
governor  known  as  al-Muhsinl,116  a  charitable  and  excellent 
man.  He  had  built  a  college  on  the  bank  of  the  Nile;  it  was  in 
this  college  that  I  lodged  on  that  occasion,  and  a  firm  friend¬ 
ship  grew  up  between  us. 

113  Local  tradition  (quoted  by  Ibn  Duqmaq,  V,  81)  pronounced  Shata 
to  be  ‘a  blessed  spot  of  Paradise’  located  on  earth. 

114  I  use  this  word  to  translate  bar  aka,  which  from  the  original  meaning  of 
‘blessing,  divine  favour’  acquired,  especially  in  North  African  usage,  the 
sense  of  magical  power  emanating  from  a  holy  man  or  object,  capable  of 
injuring  as  well  as  of  doing  good.  The  word  is  frequently  on  Ibn  Battuta’s 
lips. 

116  Ibn  Duqmaq  (V,  81)  mentions  three  Munyas  in  the  vicinity  of  the  city. 

116  Called  Balban  al-Muhsinl,  according  to  Durar,  I,  494,  which  dates  his 
death  in  1336.  The  Mamluk  Chronicle  (ed.  Zettersteen)  mentions  a  Nasir 
al-Din  ibn  al-Muhsinl,  chief  of  police  in  Cairo  1329-34,  possibly  his  son 
(cf.  Ibn  Taghribirdi,  IX,  284;  X,  317). 

39 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

I  went  on  from  there  to  the  town  of  Fariskur,117  which  is  a 
town  on  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  and  stopped  outside  it.  Here 
I  was  overtaken  by  a  horseman  who  had  been  sent  after  me 
by  the  amir  al-Muhsinl.  He  said  to  me  The  amir  asked  for 
you,  and  on  learning  of  your  departure  he  sent  you  this 
provision',  and  handed  me  a  number  of  coins — may  God 

66  reward  him !  |  Thence  I  travelled  to  the  town  of  Ashmun  al- 
Rumman,118  which  owes  the  second  part  of  its  name  to  the 
abundance  of  pomegranates  (rumman)  which  grow  there  and 
are  exported  thence  to  Cairo.  It  is  a  large  and  ancient  town 
on  one  of  the  canals  derived  from  the  Nile,  and  it  has  a 
wooden  bridge  by  which  all  vessels  anchor.  About  mid-after¬ 
noon  the  baulks  are  lifted  and  the  vessels  pass  up  and 
down.  In  this  town  there  is  a  chief  qadl  and  a  chief  of 
police  [?].119 

From  there  I  went  next  to  the  town  of  Samannud,  which  is 
on  the  bank  of  the  Nile,  and  has  much  shipping  and  fine 
markets.  The  distance  from  Samannud  to  al-Mahalla  al- 
Kablra  is  three  farsakhs.  From  this  town  I  took  ship  on  the 
Nile  upstream  to  Cairo,  between  a  succession  of  towns  and 

6 7  villages  which  join  on  to  one  another.  There  is  no  need  for  |  a 
traveller  on  the  Nile  to  take  any  provision  with  him,  because 
whenever  he  wishes  to  descend  on  the  bank  he  may  do  so, 
for  ablutions,  prayers,  purchasing  provisions,  or  any  other 
purpose.  There  is  a  continuous  series  of  bazaars  from  the  city 
of  Alexandria  to  Cairo,  and  from  Cairo  to  the  city  of  Uswan 
[Assuan]  in  Upper  Egypt.120 

117  Still  known  by  the  same  name. 

118  Called  by  Ibn  Duqmaq  Ushmum  Tanah  or  Ushmum  al-Rumman,  and 
at  this  time  the  capital  of  the  province  of  al-Daqahliya,  situated  on  the 
Bahr  al-Sughaiyir,  a  channel  derived  from  the  Nile  at  al-Mansura  and  flowing 
into  Lake  Menzala,  said  to  have  been  dug  by  Sultan  al-Zahir  Baibars 
(d.  1277). 

119  This  is  a  puzzling  statement.  The  term  wall  was  applied  in  Mamluk 
Egypt  generally  (i)  to  the  governor  of  a  city  or  sub-district  under  a  governor- 
general;  (ii)  to  the  police  commandant  bf  a  major  city.  The  term  wdli'l-wuldt 
is  not  found  in  Mamluk  texts  for  a  ‘chief  of  police’,  but  on  the  contrary  used 
for  the  governor-general  of  Lower  or  Upper  Egypt.  Ibn  Battuta  may  pos¬ 
sibly  have  placed  him  at  Ashmun  by  error  for  Damanhur,  which  was  then 
the  capital  of  Lower  Egypt.  Similarly,  the  title  of  chief  qadl  ( Qddi’l-Quddt ) 
was  confined  in  Egypt  to  the  chief  qadis  of  the  four  rites  at  Cairo.  What  he 
seems  to  have  intended  to  imply  was  that  these  were  the  chief  officers  of 
their  services  in  the  province. 

120  ‘Below  Atrib  [on  the  Damietta  branch]  the  villages  are  so  near  each 

40 


FARISKUR  TO  CAIRO 


I  arrived  at  length  at  the  city  of  Misr  [Cairo],  mother  of 
cities  and  seat  of  Pharaoh  the  tyrant,121  mistress  of  broad 
provinces  and  fruitful  lands,  boundless  in  multitude  of 
buildings,  peerless  in  beauty  and  splendour,  the  meeting- 
place  of  comer  and  goer,  the  stopping-place  of  feeble  and 
strong.  Therein  is  what  you  will  of  learned  and  simple,  grave 
and  gay,  prudent  and  foolish,  base  and  noble,  of  high  estate 
and  low  estate,  unknown  and  famous;  she  surges  as  the  waves 
of  the  sea  with  her  throngs  of  folk  and  can  scarce  contain 
them  for  all  the  capacity  of  her  situation  and  sustaining 
power.122  Her  youth  |  is  ever  new  in  spite  of  length  of  days, 
and  the  star  of  her  horoscope  does  not  move  from  the 
mansion  of  fortune;  her  conquering  capital  (al-Qahira)  has 
subdued  the  nations,  and  her  kings  have  grasped  the  forelocks 
of  both  Arab  and  non- Arab.  She  has  as  her  peculiar  possession 
the  majestic  Nile,  which  dispenses  her  district  from  the  need 
of  entreating  the  distillation  [of  the  rain];  her  territory  is  a 
month’s  journey  for  a  hastening  traveller,  of  generous  soil, 
and  extending  a  friendly  welcome  to  strangers. 

Ibn  Juzayy  remarks:  Of  Cairo  the  poet  says — 

No  common  town  is  Cairo,  by  thy  life !  Nay,  she 
Is  heaven  on  earth  for  those  with  eyes  to  see; 

Her  youth  those  boys  and  maids  with  lustrous  eyes, 
Kawthar  her  Nile,  her  Rawda  Paradise.123  | 

other  that  the  banks  of  the  Nile  seem  a  continued  town,  interrupted  only 
by  gardens  and  aromatic  groves’:  Savary,  Letters  on  Egypt,  Eng.  tr.,  I,  284. 

121  Literally,  'he  of  the  tent  pegs',  a  phrase  derived  from  the  Qur'an 
(Sura  xxxviii,  11),  and  popularly  accepted  as  meaning  ‘who  tortured  by 
means  of  tent-pegs  (or  stakes)’.  The  association  of  medieval  Cairo  with  the 
Pharaohs  is,  of  course,  rhetorical.  Cairo  proper,  al-Qahira  (‘the  Conquering’), 
was  founded  by  the  Fatimids  in  969  as  their  Egyptian  capital,  replacing  the 
former  Arab  capital  of  al-Fustat,  laid  out  (as  Ibn  Battuta  mentions  later) 
after  the  Arab  conquest  in  641,  in  the  vicinity  of  Old  Cairo  (which  occupies 
the  site  of  the  Byzantine  fortress  of  ‘Babylon  the  Lesser’).  For  the  succession 
of  medieval  towns  and  the  medieval  topography  of  the  area  see  the  article 
‘Cairo’  (by  C.  H.  Becker)  in  E.I. 

122  The  enormous  population  of  Cairo  is  commented  on  by  all  medieval 
visitors;  e.g.  the  Italian  Frescobaldi,  who  visited  it  in  1384  (i.e.  after  the  two 
‘Black  Deaths’  of  1348  and  1381),  mentions  that  100,000  persons  slept  at 
night  outside  the  city  because  of  the  shortage  of  houses. 

123  The  last  two  lines  contain  allusions  to  Qur’anic  descriptions  of  heaven; 
the  boys  are  the  ‘eternal  youths  .  .  .  like  seeded  pearls'  (lxxvi,  19-20)  who 
serve  as  cupbearers  to  the  blessed,  the  girls  the  well-known  virgins  of  Para¬ 
dise  called  the  hiir  al-in  (‘those  in  whose  eyes  the  black  iris  stands  out  sharply 

41 


68 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 


69  Of  Cairo  too  [the  poet]  Nasir  al-Dln  ibn  Nahid  says: 

The  shore  of  Misr  a  garden  is — unrivalled  she  by  other 
town, 

And  yet  more  lovely  she  appears,  bedecked  by  everflowing 
Nile. 

The  winds  upon  its  surface  weave  long-skirted  coats  of 
linked  mail — 

Of  woven  mail  whose  perfect  rings  owe  naught  to  David's 
skilful  file. 

The  flowing  current  of  her  air  shivers  the  wretch  with 
tattered  gown, 

And  vessels  like  celestial  spheres,  some  upwards  and  some 
downwards,  sail. 124 

(Resumes.)  It  is  said  that  in  Cairo  there  are  twelve 
thousand  water-carriers  who  transport  water  on  camels,  and 
thirty  thousand  hirers  of  mules  and  donkeys,  and  that  on  its 
Nile  there  are  thirty-six  thousand  vessels  belonging  to  the 
Sultan  and  his  subjects,  which  sail  upstream  to  Upper  Egypt 
and  downstream  to  Alexandria  and  Damietta,  laden  with 

70  goods  and  commodities  of  all  kinds.  On  |  the  bank  of  the  Nile 
opposite  Cairo  is  the  place  known  as  al-Rawda  [The  Garden'], 
which  is  a  pleasure  park  and  promenade,  containing  many 
beautiful  gardens.  The  people  of  Cairo  are  fond  of  pleasure 
and  amusement.  I  once  witnessed  a  fete  there  which  was  held 
for  al-Malik  al-Nasir's  recovery  from  a  fracture  which  he  had 
suffered  in  his  hand.  All  the  merchants  decorated  their 
bazaars  and  had  rich  stuffs,  ornaments,  and  silken  fabrics 
hung  up  in  their  shops  for  several  days. 

The  Mosque  of  ‘Amr  b.  al-  As,  and  the  colleges,  hospital,  and 

against  the  clear  white  eyeball’).  Kawthar,  mentioned  in  cviii,  1,  is  popularly 
taken  as  the  name  of  a  river  in  Paradise,  and  in  xviii,  108,  the  heavenly 
abodes  are  called  gardens  of  al-Firdaws  (‘Paradise’). 

Al-Rawda  is  the  long  island  to  the  north  of  Old  Cairo,  still  called  Roda, 
and  described  a  few  lines  below.  Its  amusements  and  amenities,  already 
mentioned  by  Ibn  Jubair,  are  frequently  referred  to  in  subsequent  Arabic 
writings,  especially  in  the  Arabian  Nights. 

124  The  French  translators  take  this  poem  to  refer  to  the  time  of  the  Nile 
floods,  but  without  good  reason.  The  reference  to  David  as  an  armourer  is 
derived  from  a  tradition,  given  currency  by  the  Qur’an  (xxi,  80:  ‘We  taught 
him  the  art  of  making  coats  of  mail  for  you’),  and  ‘the  weaving  of  David’  is 
a  commonplace  of  Arabic  poetry.  There  is  a  play  in  the  last  line  between 
fulk  (felucca),  ‘sailing  vessel’,  and  falak,  ‘globe,  celestial  sphere’. 

42 


CAIRO 


convents.  The  Mosque  of  ‘Amr  b.  al-‘As  is  a  noble  mosque, 
highly  venerated  and  widely  celebrated.  The  Friday  service 
is  held  in  it,  and  the  road  runs  right  through  it  from  east  to 
west.125  To  the  west  of  it  is  the  cell  where  the  Imam  Abu 
‘Abdallah  al-Shafm  used  to  teach.126  As  for  the  madrasas  in 
Cairo,  they  are  too  many  for  anyone  to  count;127  and  as  for  | 
the  Maristan,  which  is  ‘between  the  two  castles’  near  the 
mausoleum  of  al-Malik  al-Mansur  Qala’un,  no  description  is 
adequate  to  its  beauties.128  It  is  equipped  with  innumerable 
conveniences  and  medicaments,  and  its  revenue  is  reported 
to  be  a  thousand  dinars  a  day.  The  convents  too  are  numerous. 
The  people  there  call  them  khawaniq,  the  singular  being 
khanqa,  and  the  amirs  in  Cairo  vie  with  one  another  in 
building  them.129 


125  The  original  mosque,  the  first  in  Egypt,  was  built  by  the  Arab  con¬ 
queror  ‘Amr  b.  al-‘As  in  641,  but  even  by  this  time  successive  enlargements 
and  restorations  had  left  nothing  of  the  primitive  building.  (In  its  present 
form  it  dates  only  from  1798.)  After  the  destruction  of  the  first  Arab  city  of 
Fustat  in  1168,  however,  it  was  deserted  and  fell  into  disrepair,  and  the 
‘road’  of  which  Ibn  Battuta  speaks  was  a  track  made  by  persons  taking  a 
short  cut  through  it.  In  spite  of  all,  it  retained  a  reputation  for  special  sanc¬ 
tity,  owing  to  its  associations  with  the  Companions  of  the  Prophet.  See  S. 
Lane-Poole,  The  Story  of  Cairo  (London,  1906),  42  ff.,  and  for  fuller  details 
E.  K.  Corbett,  ‘The  history  of  the  mosque  of  ‘Amr’,  in  J  RAS,  1890. 

126  xhis  is  not  the  Madrasa  of  the  Imam  al-Shafi‘I,  which  was  built  by 
Saladin  next  to  the  famous  tomb-mosque  of  the  Imam,  described  below 
(p.  47),  but  a  cell  in  or  close  to  the  Mosque  of  ‘Amr  (Ibn  Duqmaq,  IV,  100). 
Al-ShafiT,  the  eponymous  imam  of  one  of  the  four  orthodox  ‘schools’  or 
‘rites’  in  Islam,  came  to  Egypt  in  814,  and  remained  there,  except  for  a  visit 
to  Mecca,  until  his  death  early  in  820.  His  cell  was  subsequently  occupied  by 
a  series  of  famous  teachers  belonging  to  his  school. 

127  For  the  madrasa  or  college-mosque  see  above,  p.  13,  n.  17.  Their  num¬ 
bers  increased  rapidly  after  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  the 
Egyptian  writers  mention  some  thirty  or  forty  in  Cairo  at  this  time. 

128  Only  the  fac^ade,  entrance  hall  (with  minaret),  and  some  fragments 
now  remain  of  this  magnificent  hospital,  built  by  Sultan  Qala’un  (1279-90), 
the  fourth  of  its  kind  in  medieval  Egypt:  see  Lane-Poole,  Cairo,  212,  and 
Max  Herz-Pascha,  Die  Baugruppe  des  Sultan  Qalaun  (Hamburg,  1919). 
The  adjoining  mausoleum  of  the  Sultan,  now  partially  restored,  is  one  of  the 
most  exquisite  monuments  of  Saracenic  architecture  and  ornament.  The 
name  of  the  street  ‘Between  the  Two  Castles’  (Baina’l-Qasrain),  derived  in 
all  probability  from  the  Fatimid  palaces  erected  in  this  quarter  in  the  tenth 
and  eleventh  centuries,  is  still  preserved  in  this  section  of  the  roadway. 

129  The  khanqa  (khangah),  ribat,  or  zawiya  in  its  later  sense,  was  a  monastic 
establishment,  serving  as  a  retreat  for  faqirs  and  darwishes,  as  a  hostel  for 
travellers,  and  for  other  religious  and  socio-religious  functions.  Of  the 
khanqas  of  Cairo  in  Ibn  Battuta's  time  only  that  of  Baibars  II  al-Chashnigir 

43 


71 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

Each  convent  in  Cairo  is  affected  to  the  use  of  a  separate 
congregation  of  poor  brethren,  most  of  whom  are  Persians, 
men  of  good  education  and  adepts  in  the  'way’  of  Sufism. 
Each  has  a  shaikh  [as  superior]  and  a  warden,  and  the 
organization  of  their  affairs  is  admirable.  It  is  one  of  their 
customs  in  the  matter  of  their  food  that  the  steward  of  the 
house  comes  in  the  morning  to  the  faqlrs,  each  of  whom  then 
specifies  what  food  he  desires.  When  they  assemble  for  meals, 
each  person  is  given  his  bread  and  soup  in  a  separate  dish, 
none  sharing  with  another.  |  They  eat  twice  a  day.  They  receive 
winter  clothing  and  summer  clothing  and  a  monthly  allow¬ 
ance  varying  from  twenty  to  thirty  dirhams  each.130  Every 
Thursday  night  they  are  given  sugar  cakes,  soap  to  wash  their 
clothes,  the  price  of  admission  to  the  bath-house,  and  oil  to 
feed  their  lamps.  These  men  are  celibate;  the  married  men 
have  separate  convents.  Amongst  the  stipulations  required  of 
them  are  attendance  at  the  five  daily  prayers,  spending  the 
night  in  the  convent,  and  assembly  in  mass  in  a  chapel  within 
the  convent.  Another  of  their  customs  is  that  each  one  of 
them  sits  [for  prayers]  upon  a  prayer-carpet  reserved  for  his 
exclusive  use.  When  they  pray  the  dawn  prayer  they  recite 
the  chapters  of  Victory ,  of  the  Kingdom,  and  of  ‘  AmmaP1 
After  this  copies  of  the  Holy  Qur’an  are  brought,  divided  into 
sections,  and  each  faqlr  takes  a  section.  132  After  'sealing’  the 
Qur’an  and  reciting  a  dhikr ,133  the  Qur’an-readers  give  a 


(‘Taster’,  colloquially  called  ‘al-Gashankir’,  see  below,  p.  160,  n.  16),  near 
the  Bab  al-Nasr,  is  still  in  existence. 

130  Evidently  from  the  revenues  and  endowments  affected  to  the  upkeep 
of  the  monastery  by  its  patron  or  founder,  usually  one  of  the  Mamluk  amirs. 
The  presenting  of  changes  of  clothing  by  superior  officers  to  their  subor¬ 
dinates  was  a  regular  feature  of  the  Mamluk  organization. 

131  I.e.  Suras  xlviii  (composed  of  twenty-nine  long  verses),  lxvii  (thirty 
short  verses),  and  lxxviii  (forty-one  very  short  verses). 

132  The  Qur’an  is  divided  into  thirty  equal  sections,  and  manuscripts  of  it 
very  often  consist  of  thirty  small  volumes,  bound  separately  for  congrega¬ 
tional  use.  By  thirty  persons  each  reading  one  part,  the  whole  of  the 
Qur’an  can  easily  be  read  through  (‘sealed’)  at  a  sitting. 

133  Dhikr  (lit.  ‘remembering’  or  ‘making  mention’)  became  the  technical 
term  to  denote  the  chant  or  anthem,  consisting  generally  of  sentences  from 
the  Qur’an  praising  and  glorifying  God.  In  the  tariqa  organization  of 
the  Sufis  the  peculiar  dhikr  of  each  tariqa  was  one  of  its  essential 
elements,  solemnly  celebrated  by  all  members  of  the  order  on  specified 
occasions. 


44 


SUFI  CONVENTS 


recital  according  to  |  the  custom  of  the  Easterners.134  73 
They  hold  a  similar  service  following  the  mid-afternoon 
prayer. 

They  have  a  regular  ritual  for  the  admission  of  newcomers. 
The  applicant  comes  to  the  gate  of  the  convent  and  takes  up 
his  stand  there,  with  his  waist  girt,  a  prayer  mat  on  his 
shoulder,  the  staff  in  his  right  hand  and  the  jug  in  his  left.135 
The  gatekeeper  informs  the  steward  of  the  convent  that  he  is 
there.  The  steward  then  comes  out  to  him  and  asks  him  from 
what  country  he  has  come,  what  convents  he  has  stayed  in 
on  his  way,  and  who  was  his  spiritual  director  [shaikh).  When 
he  has  ascertained  the  truth  of  his  answers,  he  admits  him 
into  the  convent,  spreads  his  prayer-mat  for  him  in  a  place 
befitting  his  station,  and  shows  him  the  lavatory.  The  new¬ 
comer  renews  his  ablutions  and,  returning  to  his  mat,  un¬ 
girds  his  waist,  and  prays  two  prostrations,136  then  he  clasps 
the  hand  of  the  shaikh  [of  the  convent]  and  those  of  the 
others  present,  and  takes  his  seat  amongst  them.  Another 
custom  of  theirs  is  that  on  Fridays  the  servant  collects  all 
their  prayer-mats  |  and  takes  them  to  the  mosque,  where  he  74 
spreads  them  in  readiness  for  their  coming.  The  faqirs  come 
out  in  a  body,  accompanied  by  their  shaikh,  proceed  to  the 
mosque,  and  pray  each  on  his  own  mat.  When  they  have 
finished  the  prayer  they  recite  the  Qur’an  according  to  their 
custom,  and  thereafter  return  in  a  body  to  the  convent, 
accompanied  by  their  shaikh. 

The  Qarafa  of  Cairo  and  its  sanctuaries .  At  [Old]  Cairo  too 
is  [the  cemetery  called]  al-Qarafa,  a  place  of  vast  repute  for 
blessed  power,  whose  special  virtue  is  affirmed  in  a  tradition 
related  by  al-Qurtubi  amongst  others,  for  it  is  a  part  of  the 
amount  al-Muqattam,  of  which  God  has  promised  that  it  shall 

134  This  refers  apparently  to  the  musical  and  antiphonal  chanting  of  the 
Qur’an  which  was  frequently  practised  in  the  Eastern  cities,  generally  by  a 
choir  of  mu’ adhdhins  (muezzins).  Ibn  Jubair  (219,  13;  221,  3-8)  describes  the 
chanting  of  such  choirs  at  Baghdad  ‘with  pleasing  modulations  and  moving 
melodies’. 

135  The  staff  and  jug  were  the  symbols  of  the  wandering  faqlr  or  darwish. 

136  The  unit  of  Muslim  prayer,  as  is  well  known,  consists  of  a  sequence  of 
two  bowings,  a  genuflexion,  and  two  prostrations,  the  whole  of  which 
together  with  the  appropriate  recitations  is  called  one  raq‘a  (‘bowing', 
translated  here  ‘prostration’).  Every  service  of  prayer,  however,  consists  of 
at  least  two  raq‘as. 


45 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 


be  one  of  the  gardens  of  Paradise.137  These  people  build  in  the 
Qarafa  beautiful  domed  chapels  and  surround  them  by  walls, 
so  that  they  look  like  houses,  and  they  construct  chambers  in 
them  and  hire  the  services  of  Qur’an-readers,  who  recite  night 
and  day  in  beautiful  voices.138  There  are  some  of  them  who 
75  build  a  religious  house  |  or  a  madrasa  by  the  side  of  the 
mausoleum.  They  go  out  every  Thursday  evening  to  spend 
the  night  there  with  their  children  and  womenfolk  and  make 
a  circuit  of  the  famous  sanctuaries.  They  go  out  also  to  spend 
the  night  there  on  the  night  of  mid-Sha'ban,139  and  the 
market-people  take  out  all  kinds  of  eatables. 

Among  the  celebrated  sanctuaries  [in  the  city  of  Cairo]  is 
the  imposing  holy  shrine  where  rests  the  head  of  al-Husain 
b.  ‘All  (on  both  be  peace).140  Beside  it  is  a  vast  convent,  of 

137  Several  traditions  to  this  effect  (one  of  them  even  attributed  to  Jesus) 
are  cited  in  a  work  on  the  sanctuaries  in  the  Qarafa  ( al-Kawakib  al-Sayyara 
fi  tartlb  al-Ziyara )  by  Muhammad  b.  al-Zayyat,  written  in  1401  (printed  in 
Cairo,  1907).  There  are  numerous  other  works  on  the  same  subject,  of  which 
some  are  still  extant  in  MS.  (e.g.  B.M.  Or.  MSS  3049  and  4635).  For  al- 
Qurtubi,  seep.  140,  n.  272. 

138  The  main  Qarafa  lies  immediately  to  the  south  of  modern  Cairo, 
extending  for  a  distance  of  over  a  mile  between  Old  Cairo  and  the  Muqattam 
hills.  In  size  and  appearance  it  resembles  a  town,  owing  to  the  peculiar 
Egyptian  custom  here  referred  to  of  building  chambers  and  houses  over  the 
tombs.  ‘When  the  people  of  Cairo  wish  to  go  in  for  serious  dissipation  they 
visit  the  graves  of  their  relations,  and  there,  in  houses  specially  reserved  for 
cheerful  mourners,  they  listen  to  the  chanting  of  the  holy  book’  (Lane- 
Poole,  Cairo,  22). 

139  The  night  following  the  14th  Sha'ban  (the  eighth  month  of  the  Muslim 
year)  has  in  all  Muslim  lands  taken  on  many  of  the  traditional  features  of 
a  New  Year’s  Eve.  Special  services  are  held  in  the  mosques  and  various 
ceremonies  are  observed,  often  in  commemoration  of  the  dead.  According  to 
popular  tradition  (reflecting  in  Qur’anic  garb  an  idea  at  least  as  old  as 
Babylon)  ‘on  this  night  the  Lote-tree  of  Paradise,  on  the  leaves  of  which  are 
inscribed  the  names  of  all  living  persons,  is  shaken,  and  the  leaf  of  any 
mortal  who  is  predestined  to  die  during  the  ensuing  year  falls  withering  to 
the  ground’  (Michell,  Egyptian  Calendar  for  the  Koptic  Year  i6ij). 

140  Al-Husain,  the  younger  son  of  the  caliph  ‘All  and  the  Prophet’s 
daughter  Fatima,  was  killed  with  most  of  his  family  at  Karbala  in  ‘Iraq  in 
681,  while  leading  a  revolt  against  the  Umayyad  caliph  of  Damascus.  The 
death  of  the  Prophet’s  grandson  in  this  fashion  caused  a  revulsion  against 
the  reigning  house,  and  to  this  day  the  tragedy  is  commemorated  by  both 
Sunnis  and  Shi'ites  on  the  10th  of  Muharram,  the  anniversary  of  the  event. 
The  Fatimid  caliphs  of  Egypt,  who  as  claiming  descent  from  Husain  en¬ 
couraged  the  veneration  of  the  ‘People  of  the  House’  (of  the  Prophet), 
brought  the  severed  head  of  Husain,  formerly  preserved  in  Palestine,  to 
Egypt  at  the  time  of  the  siege  of  Ascalon  by  the  crusaders  in  1153  (al-Fariqi, 
apud  Ibn  al-Qalanisi,  ed.  Amedroz,  p.  322,  n.  1;  and  below,  p.  81,  n.  49) 

46 


THE  QARAFA 

wonderful  workmanship,  on  the  doors  of  which  there  are 
silver  rings,  and  plates  also  on  them  of  the  same  metal.141 
This  shrine  is  paid  its  full  meed  of  respect  and  veneration. 

Amongst  the  monuments  [in  the  Qarafa]  is  the  tomb  of  the 
Lady  ( Sayyida )  Naflsa,  daughter  of  Zaid  b.  ‘All  b.  al-Husain 
b.  ‘All  (upon  them  be  peace).142  She  was  a  woman  answered  in 
prayer  and  zealous  in  her  devotions.  This  mausoleum  is  of 
elegant  construction  and  resplendent  brightness,  and  beside 
it  is  a  convent  which  is  visited  by  a  great  concourse  [during 
the  days  of  the  feast  dedicated  to  her].  |  Another  is  the  tomb  76 
of  the  Imam  Abu  ‘Abdallah  Muhammad  b.  Idris  al-Shafi‘i, 
close  by  which  is  a  large  convent.  The  mausoleum  enjoys  an 
immense  revenue  and  is  surmounted  by  the  famous  dome,  of 
admirable  workmanship  and  marvellous  construction,  an 
exceedingly  fine  piece  of  architecture  and  exceptionally  lofty, 
the  diameter  of  which  exceeds  thirty  cubits.143  The  Qarafa  of 
Cairo  contains  also  an  incalculable  number  of  graves  of 
men  eminent  for  learning  and  religion,  and  in  it  lie  a  goodly 
number  of  the  Companions144  and  of  the  leading  figures  of 

and  had  a  magnificent  shrine  built  for  it  close  to  the  palace.  The  shrine  is 
enthusiastically  described  by  Ibn  Battuta’s  predecessor  Ibn  Jubair  (p.  40; 
trans.  in  Lane-Poole’s  Cairo,  181-3;  trans.  by  R.  J.  C.  Broadhurst,  36-7). 
At  the  present  day  the  mosque  of  Sayyidna  Husen  is  an  imposing  edifice 
near  the  Khan  al- Khalil!  and  the  eastern  wall  of  the  city,  and  is  still  one  of 
the  most  sacred  monuments  of  Cairo  (cf.  for  example  F.  Bonjean,  El-Azhar 
(Rieder,  Paris)  166-9).  According  to  another  version,  however,  the  head  was 
not  that  of  Husain,  but  of  his  grandson  Zaid  b.  ‘All,  killed  during  a  rebellion 
in  740  (al-Maqrlzi,  Khitat,  II,  436). 

141  Or  perhaps  ‘with  similar  silver  rings’. 

142  The  tomb  of  Sayyida  (Sitt)  Naflsa  is  situated  at  the  southern  end  of 
the  modern  city,  at  the  beginning  of  the  Qarafa.  The  mausoleum  was  con¬ 
structed  by  the  Fatimids,  but  has  been  much  repaired  in  later  times,  and 
still  enjoys  great  popular  veneration.  Her  genealogy  as  given  by  the  Egyptian 
historians  is  ‘daughter  of  Al-Hasan  b.  Zaid  b.  al-Hasan  b.  ‘All’. 

143  The  tomb-mosque  of  the  Imam  al-Shafi‘I  (see  p.  43,  n.  126)  with  its 
vast  dome  in  the  Qarafa  dates  in  its  present  form  substantially  from  the 
time  of  al-Kamil,  nephew  of  Saladin,  by  whom  it  was  restored  in  1210.  It 
is  the  largest  mortuary  chapel  in  Egypt.  It  is  probable  that,  by  the  ‘convent’ 
(ribat)  attached  to  this  mausoleum,  and  the  one  at  the  shrine  of  Husain 
(above),  Ibn  Battuta  means  the  large  madrasas  which  were  built  to  the  order 
of  Saladin,  the  former  of  which  is  described  also  by  Ibn  Jubair  (Lane-Poole, 
Cairo,  184;  tr.  Broadhurst,  40). 

144  ‘The  Companions  of  the  Prophet’  is  the  term  used  to  denote  all  of 
those  contemporaries  of  Muhammad  who  had  seen  or  spoken  to  him.  Since 
the  Arab  town  of  Fustat  was  founded  only  nine  years  after  his  death,  the 
cemetery  must  obviously  have  been  the  last  resting  place  of  a  number  of 

47 


E 


T.O.I.B. 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 


both  earlier  and  later  generations  (God  be  pleased  with  them), 
for  example:  ‘Abd  al-Rahman  b.  al-Qasim,  Ashhab  b. 
‘Abd  al-‘AzTz,  Asbagh  b.  al-Faraj,  the  two  sons  of  ‘Abd 
al-Hakam,  Abu’l-Qasim  b.  Sha‘ban,  and  Abu  Muhammad 
‘Abd  al-Wahhhab.145  But  these  persons  enjoy  no  celebrity 
there,  and  are  unknown  except  to  those  who  have  a  special 
interest  in  them;  whereas  al-Shafm  has  been  favoured  by 
fortune  in  regard  to  himself  and  his  followers  and  adherents, 
both  in  his  own  lifetime  and  after  his  death.  Everything 
77  about  him  provides  |  a  clear  testimony  to  the  truth  of  his 
own  verse: 

Diligence  ( al-jidd )  brings  near  each  distant  aim 
And  fortune  [al-jadd)  opens  every  bolted  door. 

The  Egyptian  Nile ,146  The  Egyptian  Nile  surpasses  all  rivers 
of  the  earth  in  sweetness  of  taste,  breadth  of  channel147  and 
magnitude  of  utility.  Cities  and  villages  succeed  one  another 
along  its  banks  without  interruption  and  have  no  equal  in  the 
inhabited  world,  nor  is  any  river  known  whose  basin  is  so 
intensively  cultivated  as  that  of  the  Nile.148  There  is  no  river 
on  earth  but  it  which  is  called  a  sea;  God  Most  High  has  said 
‘If  thou  fearest  for  him,  cast  him  into  the  yamm ’,149  thus 
calling  it  yamm ,  which  means  ‘sea'  (bahr).  It  is  related  in  an 
unimpeachable  Tradition  that  the  Prophet  of  God  (God’s 
blessing  and  peace  upon  him)  reached  on  the  night  of  his 

Companions.  Ibn  Jubair  (p.  48;  tr.  Broadhurst,  39-42),  mentions  many  of 
these  by  name. 

145  Several  of  these  persons  are  mentioned  also  by  Ibn  Jubair.  All  were 
leading  jurists  of  the  Maliki  school,  and  some  were  direct  students  of  its 
founder,  Malik  b.  Anas  (d.  at  Madina,  795).  Both  the  travellers  from  the 
west,  as  devoted  Malikls,  naturally  made  much  of  these  early  scholars.  At 
the  present  day  most  of  these  tombs  seem  to  be  unknown,  except  that  of  one 
of  the  descendants  of  ‘Abd  al-Hakam,  wrho  is  buried  under  the  same  dome 
as  al-ShafiT.  The  sentence  that  follows  in  the  text  implies  that  the  Cairenes, 
being  in  the  majority  of  the  Shafi'ite  school,  were  not  interested  in  them. 

146  So  called  in  contradistinction  to  the  ‘Sudanese  Nile’,  i.e.  the  Niger. 

147  These  two  words  ( ittiscC  qutr)  are  translated  by  the  French  editors  ‘la 
vaste  etendue  de  son  cours’;  qutr,  however,  is  the  technical  term  for  the 
diameter  of  a  circle,  pillar  etc.,  and  wasi‘  implies  breadth  rather  than  length. 
I  doubt,  moreover,  whether  Ibn  Battuta  was  particularly  interested  in  the 
length  of  rivers,  even  assuming  them  to  be  accurately  known. 

148  Literally,  ‘upon  which  there  is  cultivated  that  which  is  cultivated  upon 
the  Nile’. 

149  Qur’an,  xxviii,  6.  The  words  are  addressed  to  the  mother  of  Moses. 

48 


THE  NILE 


Ascension150  the  Lote-Tree  of  the  Extremity,151  and  lo,  at  its 
base  were  four  streams,  two  outer  streams  and  two  inner 
streams.  |  He  asked  Gabriel  (peace  be  upon  him)  what  streams  78 
these  were,  and  he  replied  The  two  inner  streams  flow 
through  Paradise,  and  as  for  the  two  outer  streams  they  are 
the  Nile  and  Euphrates’ .  It  is  also  related  in  the  Traditions  of 
the  Prophet  that  the  Nile,  Euphrates,  Saihan  and  Jaihan  are, 
each  one,  rivers  of  Paradise.152  The  course  of  the  Nile  is  from 
south  to  north,  contrary  to  all  the  [great]  rivers.  One  extra¬ 
ordinary  thing  about  it  is  that  it  begins  to  rise  in  the  extreme 
hot  weather,  at  the  time  when  rivers  generally  diminish  and 
dry  up,  and  begins  to  subside  at  the  time  when  rivers  increase 
in  volume  and  overflow.  The  river  of  Sind  [Indus]  resembles 
it  in  this  respect,  and  will  be  mentioned  later.  The  first 
beginning  of  the  Nile  flood  is  in  Haziran,  that  is  June;  and 
when  its  rise  amounts  to  sixteen  cubits,  the  land-tax  due  to 
the  Sultan  is  payable  in  full.  If  it  rises  another  cubit,  there  is 
plenty  in  that  year,  and  complete  well-being.  But  if  it  reaches 
eighteen  cubits  it  does  damage  |  to  the  cultivated  lands  and  79 
causes  an  outbreak  of  plague.  If  it  falls  short  of  sixteen  by  a 
cubit,  the  Sultan’s  land-tax  is  diminished,  and  if  it  is  two 
cubits  short  the  people  make  solemn  prayers  for  rain  and 
there  is  the  greatest  misery.153 

The  Nile  is  one  of  the  five  great  rivers  of  the  world,  which 


150  The  famous  night-journey  of  Muhammad  when  he  was  carried  from 
Mecca  to  Jerusalem,  and  thence  ascended  into  Heaven.  See  the  article 
Isra  in  E.I.,  and,  for  a  detailed  medieval  version  of  this  journey,  see 
E.  Cerulli,  II  ‘Libro  della  Scala  (Vatican  City,  1949). 

151  The  Celestial  Lote-tree  beyond  which  none  may  pass,  mentioned  in 
Qur’an,  liii,  14.  See  also  p.  46,  n.  139. 

152  Saihan  and  Jaihan  are  the  Arabic  names  of  the  Cilician  rivers  Sarus 
and  Pyramus  respectively,  which  are  the  rivers  referred  to  in  the  Tradition 
(itself,  of  course,  like  the  preceding  one,  unauthentic  and  first  found  in  the 
works  of  the  geographers  and  historians  of  the  third  century  after  the 
Prophet) .  But  Ibn  Battuta  was  not  the  first  to  confuse  these  names  with  those 
of  the  Saihun  and  Jaihun,  i.e.  the  Jaxartes  (Syr  Darya)  and  Oxus  (Amu 
Darya),  and  though  he  preserves  the  distinction  in  the  vowels,  he  states 
explicitly  in  a  later  passage  (text,  vol.  Ill,  p.  5)  that  the  Jaihun  (Oxus)  is 
one  of  the  four  rivers  of  Paradise. 

153  ‘A  flood  of  a  certain  height  is  required  to  do  this  [i.e.  irrigation  by  the 
old  basin  system]  properly,  but  if  the  flood  is  very  high,  there  is  the  danger 
that  banks  may  burst,  and  then  damage  to  life  and  property  may  occur’ 
(H.  E.  Hurst,  in  Geogr.  /.,  LXX,  444).  The  Arabic  chronicles  of  Egypt  always 
give  the  height  of  the  Nile  flood  each  year. 

49 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 


are  the  Nile,  Euphrates,  Tigris,  Saihun  [Syr  Darya]  and 
Jaihun  [Amu  Darya];  five  other  rivers  rival  these,  the  river 
of  Sind,  which  is  called  Panj  Ab  [i.e.  Five  Rivers],  the  river  of 
Hindustan  which  is  called  the  Rank  [or  Gang,  i.e.  Ganges] — 
to  it  the  Hindus  go  on  pilgrimage,  and  when  they  burn  their 
dead  they  throw  the  ashes  of  them  into  it,  and  they  say  that 
it  comes  from  Paradise — the  river  Jun,  also  in  Hindustan,154 
the  river  I  til  [Volga]  in  the  Qifjaq  [Kipchak]  steppe,  on  the 
shore  of  which  is  the  city  of  al-Sara,  and  the  river  Saru155  in 
the  land  of  al-Khita  [Cathay],  on  the  banks  of  which  is  the 
city  of  Khan-Baliq  [Peking],  whence  it  descends  to  the  city 
of  al-Khansa  [Hang-chow]  and  from  there  to  |  the  city  of 
al-Zaitun  [Zayton]  in  the  land  of  China.  We  shall  speak  of  all 
these  in  their  proper  places,  if  God  will.  Some  distance  below 
Cairo  the  Nile  divides  into  three  sections,156  and  none  of 
these  streams  can  be  crossed  except  by  boat,  winter  or 
summer.  The  inhabitants  of  every  township  have  canals  led 
off  the  Nile;  when  it  is  in  flood  it  fills  these  and  they  inundate 
the  cultivated  fields. 

The  pyramids  and  berbas.  These  are  among  the  marvels 
which  have  been  celebrated  through  the  course  of  ages,  and 
there  is  much  talk  and  theorizing  amongst  men  about  them, 
their  significance  and  the  origin  of  their  construction.157  They 
aver  that  all  branches  of  knowledge  which  came  into  exis¬ 
tence  before  the  Deluge  were  derived  from  Hermes  the 
Ancient,  who  lived  in  the  remotest  part  of  the  Sa‘Id  [Upper 
Egypt];  he  is  also  called  by  the  name  of  Khanukh  [Enoch] 


154  The  name  Jun  is  usually  applied  by  Ibn  Battuta  to  the  Jumna,  but  he 
gives  the  same  name  in  one  passage  (IV,  212;  Selections,  p.  267)  to  the 
Brahmaputra. 

165  The  name  Saru  or  Saru  is  explained  by  the  French  translators  as  the 
Mongol  (or  rather  Turco-Mongol)  word  for  'yellow’.  The  peculiar  description 
of  the  course  of  the  ‘Yellow  River’  which  follows  will  be  discussed  later  in 
relation  to  Ibn  Battuta’s  journey  to  China;  see  provisionally  the  notes  to 
my  Selections,  p.  368. 

156  The  majority  of  Arab  geographers  retain  the  traditional  number  of 
seven  branches,  but  already  some  mention  only  two,  i.e.  the  Rosetta  and 
Damietta  branches.  Ibn  Battuta’s  third  branch  appears  to  be  the  same  as 
that  of  his  contemporary,  the  geographer  Abu’l-Fida  (d.  1331),  who  divides 
the  Damietta  branch  into  two  at  al-Mansura,  the  easter  (Tanaitic)  branch 
of  the  two  debouching  into  Lake  Menzala.  See  Omar  Toussoun,  Memoire  sur 
les  anciennes  branches  du  Nile,  epoque  arabe,  (Cairo,  1923). 

157  See  the  article  ‘Haram’  in  E.I. 


50 


THE  PYRAMIDS 


that  is  Idris  (on  him  be  peace).158  It  is  said  that  he  was  the 
first  to  speculate  on  the  movements  of  the  spheres  and  the 
celestial  bodies,  |  and  the  first  to  construct  temples  and  glorify  81 
God  in  them;  and  that  he  warned  men  of  the  coming  of  the 
Deluge,  and  fearing  for  the  disappearance  of  knowledge  and 
destruction  of  the  practical  arts  built  the  pyramids  and 
berbas,  in  which  he  depicted  all  the  practical  arts  and  their 
tools,  and  made  diagrams  of  the  sciences,  in  order  that  they 
might  remain  immortalized.  It  is  said  also  that  the  seat  of 
learning  and  kingship  in  Egypt  was  the  city  of  Manuf 
[Memphis],  which  is  one  band  from  al-Fustat.159  When 
Alexandria  was  built,  the  people  removed  to  it,  and  it  became 
the  seat  of  learning  and  kingship  until  the  coming  of  Islam, 
when  ‘Amr  b.  al-‘ As  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  laid  out  the  city 
of  al-Fustat,  which  remains  the  capital  of  Egypt  to  this  day.160 

The  pyramids161  is  an  edifice  of  solid  hewn  stone,  of  im¬ 
mense  height  and  circular  plan,  broad  at  the  base  and 
narrow  at  the  top,  like  the  figure  of  a  cone.  They  have  no 
doorways  and  the  manner  of  their  erection  is  unknown.  One 
of  the  tales  related  about  them  is  that  a  certain  king  |  of  82 
Egypt  before  the  Flood  dreamed  a  dream  which  filled  him 
with  terror  and  determined  him  to  build  these  pyramids  on 
the  western  side  of  the  Nile,  as  a  depository  for  the  sciences 
and  for  the  bodies  of  the  kings.  He  asked  the  astrologers 
whether  they  would  be  opened  in  the  future  at  any  spot,  and 
they  told  him  that  an  opening  would  be  made  on  the  north 
side,  and  informed  him  of  the  exact  spot  where  the  opening 


158  This  triple  identification  of  Hermes  Trismegistos  (i.e.  the  Egyptian 
god  Thoth),  Enoch  of  Gen.  v.,  and  the  Idris  mentioned  twice  as  a  prophet 
in  the  Qur’an  (xix,  57;  xxi,  85),  and  the  ascription  to  him  of  the  invention  of 
writing,  clothing,  astronomy,  etc.  are  accepted  facts  in  the  medieval  Muslim 
writers;  see  article  ‘Idris’  in  E.I.  The  whole  passage  is  summarized  from  the 
‘Biographies  of  Men  of  Science’  ( Ta’rlkh  al-Hukama )  of  Ibn  al-Qifti  (d.  1248) 
(ed.  Lippert,  p.  6). 

159  A  barld,  regarded  as  the  average  distance  between  two  post-stations 
(band  being  the  technical  term  for  the  state-post,  courier,  or  post-horse) 
was  reckoned  in  the  Persian  zone  as  two  farsakhs  (six  miles),  in  Egypt  and 
the  west  at  four  farsakhs  (twelve  miles);  cf.  p.  34,  n.  93. 

160  See  p.  41,  n.  121;  p.  43,  n.  125. 

161  It  is  noteworthy  that  Ibn  Battuta  speaks  of  the  Pyramids  as  if  they 
were  a  single  building,  and  he  makes  no  mention  of  the  Sphinx.  On  comparing 
his  account  with  the  precise  statements  of  Ibn  Jubair,  it  seems  evident  that 
he  did  not  go  out  to  visit  them  personally. 

51 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

would  begin,  and  of  the  sum  of  money  which  would  be 
expended  in  making  the  opening.  He  then  ordered  to  be 
deposited  in  that  place  the  sum  of  money  which  they  had  told 
him  would  be  spent  in  breaching  it.  By  pressing  forward  its 
construction,  he  completed  it  in  sixty  years,  and  wrote  [this 
inscription]  upon  them:  ‘We  erected  these  pyramids  in  the 
space  of  sixty  years;  let  him  who  will,  pull  them  down  in  the 
space  of  six  hundred  years;  yet  to  pull  down  is  easier  than  to 
build/  Now  when  the  Caliphate  devolved  upon  the  Com- 
83  mander  of  the  Faithful  |  al-Ma'mun,162  he  proposed  to  pull 
them  down,  and  although  one  of  the  Egyptian  shaikhs  ad¬ 
vised  him  not  to  do  so  he  persisted  in  his  design  and  ordered 
that  they  should  be  breached  from  the  north  side.  So  they  set 
about  lighting  fires  up  against  them  and  then  sprinkling  them 
with  vinegar  and  battering  them  with  a  mangonel,  until  the 
breach  which  is  still  to  be  seen  in  them  was  opened  up.  There 
they  found,  facing  the  hole,  a  sum  of  money  which  the  Com¬ 
mander  of  the  Faithful  ordered  to  be  weighed.  He  then  cal¬ 
culated  what  had  been  spent  on  making  the  breach,  and 
finding  the  two  sums  equal,  was  greatly  astonished.  At  the 
same  time  they  found  the  breadth  of  the  wall  to  be  twenty 
cubits.163 

The  Sultan  of  Egypt.  The  Sultan  of  Egypt  at  the  time  of  my 
entry  was  al-Malik  al-Nasir  Abu'l-Fath  Muhammad,  son  of 
al-Malik  al-Mansur  Saif  al-Dln  Oala'un  al-Salihi.  Oala'un  was 

•  &>J  •  •  (V 

known  as  al-Alfi  [The  Thousand-man']  because  al-Malik  al- 
Salih  bought  him  for  a  thousand  dinars  of  gold.  He  came 
originally  from  Qifjaq  [Kipchak].164  Al-Malik  al-Nasir  (God's 

162  Al-Ma’mun  (reigned  at  Baghdad,  813-33),  was  the  second  son  of 
Harun  al-Rashld  and  the  only  caliph  of  Baghdad  to  visit  Egypt.  His  arrival 
in  832  was  due  to  the  need  of  taking  decisive  action  against  the  successive 
rebellions  of  Arabs  and  Copts  which  had  disturbed  the  country  for  many 
years,  but  he  also  made  a  progress  through  the  Delta.  The  legend  of  his 
attempt  to  open  the  Great  Pyramid  in  search  of  treasure  is  told  by  the 
famous  physician  ‘Abd  al-Latif. 

163  Here  again  he  seems  to  conceive  of  the  Pyramids  as  a  building  sur¬ 
rounded  by  an  outer  wall. 

164  The  government  of  Egypt  was  at  this  time  in  the  hands  of  the  famous 
Mamluk  Sultans  of  the  first  or  Bahri  line,  founded  in  1250  by  the  slave  army 
of  the  penultimate  Ayyubid  Sultan,  al-Malik  al-Salih  (1240-49).  The  Mam- 
luks  were  Turkish,  Circassian,  or  other  white  slaves,  who  were  purchased 
for  military  service  by  the  Sultan  or  military  commanders  {amirs) .  Those  of 
outstanding  ability  rose  in  turn  (with  the  aid  of  good  fortune  and  a  certain 

52 


AL-MALIK  AL-NASIR 

mercy  upon  him)  was  |  a  man  of  generous  character  and  great  s4 
virtues,  and  sufficient  proof  of  his  nobility  is  furnished  by  his 
devotion  to  the  service  of  the  two  holy  sanctuaries  [of  Mecca 
and  Madina]  and  the  works  of  beneficence  which  he  does 
every  year  to  assist  the  pilgrims,  in  furnishing  camels  loaded 
with  provisions  and  water  for  those  without  means  and  the 
helpless,  and  for  carrying  those  who  cannot  keep  up  with  the 
caravan  or  are  too  weak  to  walk  on  foot,  both  on  the  Egyptian 
pilgrim-road  and  on  that  from  Damascus.  He  also  built  a 
great  convent  at  Siryaqus,  in  the  outskirts  of  Cairo.165  But  the 
convent  built  by  our  lord  the  Commander  of  the  Faithful 
and  Defender  of  the  Faith,  the  refuge  of  the  poor  and  needy, 
Caliph  of  God  upon  earth,  whose  zeal  in  the  Holy  War  trans¬ 
cends  its  obligations,  Abu  ‘Inan  (God  be  his  strength  and  aid, 
and  grant  him  the  signal  victory,  and  prosper  him),  in  the 
outskirts  of  his  sublime  residence,  the  luminous  city  (God  guard 
it),  has  no  |  equal  to  it  in  the  inhabited  world  for  perfection  s5 
of  architecture,  beauty  of  construction,  and  plaster  carving 
such  as  none  of  the  Easterners  can  accomplish.166  We  shall 
speak  in  due  course  of  the  schools,  hospitals,  and  convents 
which  he  (God  be  his  strength)  has  founded  in  his  land  (God 
guard  it  and  preserve  it  by  the  prolongation  of  his  reign). 

Some  of  the  amirs  of  Cairo.  Amongst  them  was  the  cup¬ 
bearer  of  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  the  amir  Buktumur;  it  was  he 
whom  al-Malik  al-Nasir  put  to  death  by  poison,  as  will  be 
related  subsequently.167  Another  was  al-Malik  al-Nasir’s 
deputy,  Arghun  the  Dawadar,  and  it  is  he  who  comes  next 


absence  of  scruples)  to  the  rank  of  amir,  and  on  the  death  of  the  reigning 
Sultan  the  amirs  elected  or  acknowledged  one  of  their  own  number  as  his 
successor.  Al-Malik  al-Nasir,  however,  who  succeeded  for  the  first  time  in 
1293  and  with  two  short  intervals  reigned  until  1341,  gained  such  a  pre¬ 
dominance  in  his  long  reign  that  the  sultanate  remained  in  his  house  until 
1390. 

165  Siryaqus  (more  frequently  spelled  Siryaqus:  Ibn  Duqmaq,  V,  49), 
eleven  miles  north  of  Cairo,  was  at  this  time  a  favourite  country  residence 
of  the  sultan  and  the  amirs. 

166  The  reference  is  to  the  BuTnaniya  madrasa  in  Fez,  which  is  still 
intact:  see  G.  Marais,  L’ Architecture  musulmane  d’ Occident  (Paris,  1954), 
pp.  291-3,  and  plates  p.  297. 

167  Baktamur  (as  the  name  is  usually  spelled)  acquired  almost  fabulous 
wealth  and  power  as  the  intimate  of  al-Nasir;  see  Ibn  Hajar,  Durar,  I, 
486-7.  He  died  in  1335.  The  popular  story  of  his  death  is  related  by  Ibn 
Battuta,  Arabic  edition,  II,  249-50. 

53 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 


to  Buktumur  in  rank.168  Another  was  Tushtu,  who  was  known 
as  'Green  Chickpeas’;  he  was  one  of  the  best  of  the  amirs  and 
had  to  his  credit  many  charities  to  orphans  for  clothing  and 

86  upkeep,  |  and  payment  of  a  salary  to  a  teacher  to  instruct 
them  in  the  Qur’an.  He  also  made  large  benefactions  to  the 
[vagabonds  known  as]  harafish,  who  are  a  large  organized 
body,  hard-faced  folk  and  lewd.169  Al-Malik  al-Nasir  once 
imprisoned  Tushtu,  and  the  harafish  assembled  in  thousands, 
took  up  their  stand  below  the  citadel  and  shouted  as 
with  a  single  tongue:  'Ho,  thou  ill-starred  limper  (meaning  al- 
Malik  al-Nasir),  fetch  him  out!’  So  he  released  him  from  his 
place  of  confinement.  He  imprisoned  him  a  second  time,  but 
the  orphans  made  a  like  scene,  and  he  set  him  free  [again]. 
Others  of  the  amirs  are  the  wazir  of  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  known 
by  the  name  of  al-Jamali;  Badr  al-DIn  ibn  al-Babah;  Jamal 
al-Din,  the  sultan’s  lieutenant  at  al-Karak;  Tuquz  Dumur 
(dumiir  in  Turkish  means  'iron’);  Bahadur  al-Hijazi;  Qawsun; 

87  and  Bashtak.  |  All  these  amirs  vie  with  one  another  in 
charitable  works  and  the  founding  of  mosques  and  religious 
houses.170 

168  Arghun  ‘the  Pen-holder’  (d.  1330),  head  of  the  chancery,  acquired  a 
great  reputation  for  justice,  courtesy,  and  learning.  He  was  for  a  time  gover¬ 
nor  of  Aleppo,  and  increased  the  water-supply  by  drawing  off  some  of  the 
water  of  the  Sajur  river  into  the  Quwaiq;  see  Durar,  I,  351-2. 

169  Tashtamur  al-Badr!  was  purchased  by  al-Nasir  and  was  subsequently 
appointed  cupbearer,  then  governor  successively  of  Safad  and  Aleppo,  and 
viceroy  of  Egypt  under  al-Nasir’s  son  Ahmad,  but  was  finally  arrested  and 
executed  in  1342.  The  epithet  of  ‘Green  Chickpeas’  was  given  to  him  in 
consequence  of  his  fondness  for  this  vegetable:  see  Durar,  II,  219-20; 
L.  A.  Mayer,  Saracenic  Heraldry ,  226.  The  harafish  are  frequently  mentioned 
in  the  Egyptian  chronicles  and  in  the  Arabian  Nights ;  Ibn  Hajar  in  his  chro¬ 
nicle  records  the  death  of  a  ‘sultan  of  the  harafish'  in  1390  (a.h.  792). 

170  ‘Ala  al-Din  Mughultay  al-Jamali,  known  as  Khuruz  (the  Cock), 
ustadar  or  steward  of  the  household,  vizier  from  1324  to  1329,  died  1332 
{Durar,  IV,  354;  and  see  p.  27,  n.  70  above).  Badr  al-Din  Jankali  ibn  al- 
Baba  was  a  Mongol  officer  who  deserted  to  Egypt,  d.  1346  {Durar,  I, 
539-40);  Jamal  al-Din  Aqush  al-Ashrafi  was  governor  of  Kerak  from  1291 
to  1308,  and  subsequently  controller  of  the  hospital  at  Cairo,  d.  1335 
{Durar,  I,  395-6;  Mayer,  71-2);  Tuquzdamur  al-Nasiri  was  cupbearer  to 
al-Nasir  and  after  his  death  viceroy  of  Syria,  d.  1345  {Durar,  II,  225;  Mayer, 
235);  Bahadur  al-Hijazi  seems  to  be  Bahadur  al-Timurtashi,  who,  with 
Qawsun  and  Bashtak,  formed  the  inner  circle  of  al-Nasir’s  intimates,  d. 
1343  {Durar,  I,  496);  Qawsun  appears  to  have  been  of  Mongol  origin  and 
became  viceroy  of  Egypt  after  al-Nasir’s  death,  executed  in  1342  {Durar, 
III,  257-8;  Mayer,  186);  Bashtak  was  executed  in  1341;  his  palace  still 
exists  in  the  Bain  al-Qasrain  in  Cairo  {Durar,  I,  477-9;  Mayer,  104). 

54 


Of  their  number  also  is  the  intendant  of  the  army  of  al- 
Malik  al-Nasir,  who  is  at  the  same  time  his  secretary,  the 
qadl  Fakhr  al-Dln  al-Qibtl.  He  was  a  Coptic  Christian,  but 
afterwards  embraced  Islam  and  made  an  exemplary  Muslim. 
He  is  a  man  of  the  most  generous  qualities  and  possessed  of 
all  the  virtues,  and  his  rank  is  one  of  the  highest  at  the  court 
of  al-Malik  al-Nasir.171  He  has  to  his  credit  many  charities  and 
large  benefactions.  It  is  his  custom  to  sit  in  the  evening  in  a 
reception  room  which  he  has  in  the  portico  of  his  mansion  on 
the  Nile,  and  next  to  which  is  the  mosque.  When  the  hour  of 
the  sunset  prayer  arrives,  he  prays  in  the  mosque,  and  then 
returns  to  his  reception  room  and  food  is  served.  During 
this  time  no  one,  whosoever  he  may  be,  is  prevented  from 
coming  in;  anyone  who  has  a  request  to  make  may  speak  on 
it,  and  he  settles  it  for  him;  if  anyone  asks  for  alms  he  com¬ 
mands  one  of  his  mamluks,  addressed  as  Badr  al-Dln  (his 
name  being  Lulu’)  to  go  with  him  |  outside  the  house  where 
his  treasurer  is  in  waiting  with  purses  of  silver,  and  gives  him 
the  sum  which  has  been  fixed  for  him.  At  the  same  time  also 
the  doctors  of  the  law  come  into  his  presence  and  the  book  of 
al-Bukhari172  is  read  before  him;  then,  when  he  has  prayed  the 
last  evening  prayer,  the  assembly  withdraws  and  leaves  him. 

The  qadis  in  Cairo  at  the  time  of  my  arrival  there.  Amongst 
them  was  the  Shafihte  Grand  Qadl  [‘Qadl  of  Qadis’],  who  is 
the  highest  of  them  in  rank  and  enjoys  the  greatest  esteem, 
and  in  whose  hands  lies  the  appointment  and  dismissal  of  the 
qadis  in  Cairo.  He  was  the  learned  qadl  and  imam  Badr 
al-Din  Ibn  Jama/a,173  but  it  is  his  son  ‘Izz  al-Din  who  at 
present  exercises  that  function.  Others  were  the  Malikite 
Grand  Qadi,  the  pious  imam  Taqi  al-Din  al-Akhna’i,174  and 

171  Fakhr  al-Din  was  financial  intendant  of  the  army  from  1310  until  his 
death  in  1332.  He  is  credited  with  building  no  less  than  three  mosques  in 
Cairo  (Zettersteen,  225). 

172  The  Sahlh  (or  collection  of  Authentic  Traditions)  of  al-Bukhari  (d.  870) 
enjoys  a  veneration  in  Muslim  religious  circles  inferior  only  to  that  of  the 
Qur’an. 

173  Badr  al-Din  Muhammad  b.  Ibrahim  Ibn  Jama'a,  of  Hamah,  b.  1241, 
d.  1333,  was  one  of  the  most  famous  of  later  Muslim  jurists.  Thrice  Grand 
Qadi  of  Egypt,  he  held  his  post  on  the  third  occasion  from  1310  until  his 
resignation  in  April  1327  ( Durar ,  III,  280-3).  His  son  ‘Izz  al-Din  ‘Abd 
al-‘Aziz  (1294—1366)  subsequently  held  the  same  office  twice. 

174  Taqi  al-Din  Muhammad  b.  Abu  Bakr  al-Akhna’i  (1262-1349)  also 
belonged  to  a  family  with  a  long  record  as  qadis  [Durar,  III,  407-8).  His 

55 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

the  Hanafite  Grand  Qadl,  the  learned  imam  Shams  al-DIn 
al-Harlri.175  The  latter  was  |  exceedingly  severe,  and  no 
person  could  find  fault  with  him  in  [the  execution  of  his  duties 
toward]  God.  The  amirs  went  in  fear  of  him,  and  it  was  even 
told  me  that  al-Malik  al-Nasir  said  one  day  to  his  private 
circle  T  have  no  fear  of  anyone  but  of  Shams  al-DIn  al- 
HaruT.  Amongst  them  also  was  the  Hanbalite  Grand 
Qadl,  of  whom  I  know  no  more  than  that  he  was  called  Tzz 
al-DIn.176 

Anecdote.  Al-Malik  al-Nasir  (God’s  mercy  upon  him)  used 
to  hold  sittings  every  Monday  and  Thursday  to  investigate 
complaints  of  injustice  and  receive  the  petitions  of  com¬ 
plainants.  The  four  [Grand]  Qadls  sat  on  his  left,  and  as  the 
petitions  were  read  before  him  he  would  nominate  someone  to 
question  the  petitioner  on  the  subject  of  his  petition.  Our  lord 
the  Commander  of  the  Faithful  and  Defender  of  the  Faith 
[Abu  Tnan]  (God  be  his  strength)  has  followed  in  this  respect 
a  line  of  conduct  unprecedented  and  unsurpassed  in  equity 
and  humility,  namely,  that  he  in  his  noble  person  questions 
every  complainant,  |  and  investigates  every  petition  brought 
before  his  upright  presence — God  forbid  that  any  but  he  (God 
lengthen  his  days)  should  preside  over  these  sessions.177  Now 
it  was  the  practice  of  the  judges  above-mentioned  that  the 
one  who  ranked  highest  among  them  when  in  session  was  the 
qadl  of  the  Shafi'ites,  then  the  qadl  of  the  Hanafites,  then  the 
qadl  of  the  Malikites,  and  lastly  the  qadl  of  the  Hanbalites. 
When  Shams  al-DIn  al-Harlri  died  and  Burhan  al-DIn  b. 
‘Abd  al-Haqq  al-Hanafl  was  appointed  in  his  place  [as  Grand 


brother  ‘Alam  al-Din  Muhammad  was  subsequently  Shafi'ite  qadl  at  Damas¬ 
cus. 

176  Shams  al-Din  Muhammad  b.  ‘Othman  al-Ansarl  Ibn  al-Harlri  (1255— 
1328)  ( Durar ,  IV,  39-40). 

176  The  Hanbali  chief  qadl  from  1312  to  1337  was  Taqi  al-Din  Ahmad  b. 
‘Omar  al-Maqdisi,  the  son  of  ‘Izz  al-Din,  who  was  Hanbali  qadi  in  Cairo 
from  1300  until  he  died  in  1311  [Durar,  I,  225-6;  III,  345). 

177  For  the  history  and  organization  of  the  royal  courts,  called  Mazdlim, 
see  E.  Tyan,  Histoire  de  1’ organisation  judiciaire  en  pays  d’ Islam,  II  (Lyon, 
1943),  141-288.  The  ceremonial  order  of  these  courts  under  al-Malik 
al-Nasir  is  described  by  several  Egyptian  authorities  (see  Tyan,  249-51). 
No  little  weight  is  given  in  Muslim  sources  to  the  manner  in  which  caliphs 
and  princes  maintained  this  institution,  to  such  an  extent  that  it  became  a 
criterion  of  justice  and  good  government. 

56 


SCHOLARS  AND  NOTABLES 


Qadi  of  the  Hanafites],178  the  amirs  advised  al-Malik  al-Nasir 
that  the  Malikite  qadi  should  be  given  the  seat  above  him, 
recalling  that  this  had  been  the  custom  formerly,  as  the 
Malikite  qadi  Zain  al-Dln  b.  Makhluf179  used  to  sit  next  to  the 
Shafbite  qadi  Taqi  al-Din  ibn  Daqiq  al-‘Id.  Al-Malik  al- 
Nasir  gave  orders  accordingly.  When  the  Hanafite  qadi 
learned  of  it,  he  absented  himself  from  the  sitting  out  of  pique 
at  this  decision.  Al-Malik  al-Nasir  was  displeased  at  his 
absence  and,  having  learnt  his  reason  for  it,  |  ordered  him  to  91 
be  fetched.  When  he  appeared  before  him.,  the  chamberlain 
took  him  by  the  hand  and  made  him  sit  where  the  sultan  had 
ordered,  that  is,  next  below  the  qadi  of  the  Malikites,  and  in 
this  position  he  remained. 

Some  of  the  scholars  and  notables  of  Cairo.  Amongst  them 
are  Shams  al-Din  al-Isbahani,  the  foremost  authority  in  the 
world  on  logic  and  metaphysics;  Sharaf  al-Din  al-Zawawi,  the 
Malikite;  Burhan  al-Din,  the  son  of  al-Shadhili’s  daughter, 
deputy  of  the  Grand  Qadi  in  the  congregational  mosque  of 
al-Salih;  Rukn  al-Din  b.  al-Qawba‘  al-Tunisi,  an  authority  on 
logic  and  metaphysics;  Shams  al-Din  b.  ‘Adlan,  the  chief 
of  the  Shafbites;  Baha/  al-Din  b.  ‘Aqil,  a  leading  jurist; 
Athir  al-Din  Abu  Hayyan  Muhammad  b.  Yusuf  b.  Hayyan 
al-Gharnati  [i.e.  of  Granada],  who  is  the  most  learned  of 
them  in  grammar;  the  pious  shaikh  Badr  al-Din  ‘Abdallah  | 
al-Manufi;  Burhan  al-Din  al-Safaqusi;  Qiwam  al-Din  al-Kir-  92 
mani,  whose  dwelling  place  was  on  top  of  the  roof  of  the  al- 
Azhar  mosque.  He  had  a  company  of  jurists  and  Qur’an- 
readers  always  in  attendance  on  him,  and  he  taught  var¬ 
ious  branches  of  theology  and  gave  decisions  on  points  of 
law  according  to  the  different  schools.  His  dress  was  a  coarse 
woollen  mantle  and  a  black  woollen  turban.  It  was  his 
custom  to  go,  when  the  afternoon  prayer  was  over,  to 
places  of  amusement  and  entertainments,  unaccompanied  by 
his  disciples.  Besides  these  there  were  the  Sayyid  Sharif 
Shams  al-Din,  son  of  the  daughter  of  the  Sahib  Taj  al-Din  b. 
Hanna/;  the  Grand  Shaikh  of  the  Poor  Brethren  in  Egypt, 


178  Burhan  al-Din  Ibrahim  b.  ‘Ali  known  as  Ibn  ‘Abd  al-Haqq,  Hanafi 
Grand  Qadi  of  Cairo  1328-38,  d.  1344  ( Durar ,  I,  46-7). 

179  Zain  al-Din  ‘Ali  b.  Makhluf  al-Nuwairi,  the  predecessor  of  al-Akhna’I, 
d.  1318  (Durar,  III,  127-8). 


57 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 


Majd  al-Dln  al-Aqsara%  whose  designation  is  derived  from 
Aqsara  in  the  land  of  Rum  [Anatolia],  and  who  lives  in 
Siryaqus;  the  Shaikh  Jamal  al-DIn  al-Huwaiza’T  (al-Huwaiza 
is  distant  three  days’  journey  from  Basra);  the  marshal  of  the 
93  sharifs  in  Egypt,  the  revered  Sayyid  Sharif  Badr  |  al-DIn  al- 
Husaini,  one  of  the  most  pious  of  men;  the  intendant  of  the 
treasury  and  lecturer  in  the  mausoleum  of  the  Imam  al- 
Shafi%  Majd  al-DIn  HarmI,  and  the  Muhtasib  of  Cairo,  Najm 
al-DIn  al-Sahartl,  one  of  the  principal  jurists,  who  enjoys  a 
great  position  of  leadership  and  prestige  in  Cairo.180 

The  day  of  the  Mahmil  at  Cairo.  This  is  the  day  of  the  pro¬ 
cession  of  the  Mahmil181  round  [the  city],  a  festival  day. 

i8°  Most  of  the  scholars  mentioned  are  identifiable  and  the  more  important 
are: 

Shams  al-Din  al-Isbahani,  Abu’l-Thana’  Mahmud  b.  ‘Abd  al-Rahman, 
born  at  Isfahan  1285,  d.  1349,  one  of  the  most  notable  scholars  of  his  age. 
He  cannot,  however,  have  been  in  Cairo  at  this  time,  as  he  was  professor  at 
the  Rawahiya  College  at  Damascus,  1325-32  ( Durar ,  IV,  327-8). 

Sharaf  al-Din  al-Zawawi,  ‘Isa  b.  Mas'ud  b.  Mansur,  1266-1342,  the  leading 
MalikI  jurist  of  his  age  {Durar,  III,  210). 

Rukn  al-Din  b.  al-Qawba‘,  Muhammad  b.  Muhammad  b.  ‘Abd  al- 
Rahman,  1265-1338,  physician  and  poet  {Durar,  IV,  181-4). 

Muhammad  b.  Ahmad  Ibn  ‘Adlan,  1262-1348,  judge  of  the  army  under 
al-Malik  al-Nasir  {Durar,  III,  333). 

Baha’  al-Din  Ibn  ‘Aqil,  ‘Abdallah  b.  ‘Abd  al-Rahman,  1295-1367,  famous 
grammarian  {Durar,  II,  266). 

Abu  Hayyan  al-Gharnatl,  1250-1344,  another  famous  grammarian 
{Durar,  IV,  302-10,  and  biography  in  the  edition  of  his  work  Manhaj  al-Salik, 
by  S.  Glazer  (New  Haven,  1947)). 

Majd  al-Din  ‘Isa  al-Aqsara’i,  d.  1339,  shaikh  of  the  Nasiriya  Khanka  (see 
p.  43,  n.  129). 

The  Sharif  Badr  al-Din  al-Husaini,  al-Hasan  b.  ‘Izz  al-Din  Ahmad  b. 
Muhammad,  1297-1342  {Durar,  II,  12).  His  grandfather,  father  and  son 
also  held  the  office  of  Naqib  al-Ashraf  (see  p.  258,  n.  50). 

Majd  al-Din  Harm!  b.  Ibrahim  b.  Yusuf,  Shah'ite  jurist  and  Treasurer, 
d.  1334  {Durar,  II,  8). 

Najm  al-Din  al-Saharti,  Muhammad  b.  al-Husain  b.  ‘Ali  of  Is'ird  (col¬ 
loquially  pronounced  Sahart,  now  Siirt  in  Anatolia),  appointed  muhtasib 
in  1320  and  died  in  office  in  1336  (Zettersteen,  171,  193);  cf.  p.  219,  n.  130. 

For  the  Sahib  Taj  al-Din  b.  Hanna’,  see  p.  60,  n.  186. 

181  The  Mahmil  (colloquially  pronounced  mahmal)  is  an  empty  litter,  with 
a  pyramidal  top  covered  with  embroidered  brocade  and  decorated  with 
ornaments  of  gold  or  silver  and  jewels,  which  was  sent  annually  from  Cairo, 
to  accompany  the  pilgrim  caravan  to  Mecca  and  back.  Similar  Mahmils  have 
been  sent  from  other  countries  at  various  times,  but  that  from  Egypt  has 
always  held  the  place  of  honour.  The  procession  here  described  was  the  first 
of  three  annual  processions  of  the  Mahmil,  about  the  middle  of  Rajab, 
afterwards  held  a  month  later,  and  discontinued  after  the  Ottoman  con¬ 
quest  of  Egypt  in  1517.  The  main  ceremony,  still  observed,  was  in  the  month 


THE  MAHMIL 


Their  ceremonial  on  this  day  is  as  follows.  The  four  Grand 
Qadls,  the  Intendant  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  Muhtasib  (all 
of  whom  we  have  mentioned  above)  are  mounted,  and  along 
with  them  ride  the  principal  jurists,  the  syndics  of  the  heads 
of  corporations,182  and  the  officers  of  state.  They  all  proceed 
together  to  the  gate  of  the  citadel,  the  residence  of  al-Malik 
al-Nasir,  whereupon  the  mahmil  comes  out  to  meet  them, 
borne  on  a  camel,  |  and  preceded  by  the  amir  who  has  been  94 
designated  for  the  journey  to  the  Hijaz  in  that  year.183  With 
him  are  his  troops  184  and  a  number  of  water-carriers  mounted 
on  their  camels.  All  classes  of  the  population,  both  men  and 
women,  assemble  for  this  ceremony,  then  they  go  in  proces¬ 
sion  with  the  mahmil  round  the  two  cities  of  al-Qahira  and 
Misr  [al-Fustat],  accompanied  by  all  those  whom  we  have 
mentioned,  and  with  the  camel-drivers  singing  to  their  camels 
in  the  lead.  This  takes  place  in  Rajab,  and  thereupon  resolves 
are  inflamed,  desires  are  excited,  and  impulses  are  stirred  up, 
and  God  Most  High  casts  into  the  heart  of  whom  He  will  of 
His  servants  the  determination  to  set  out  upon  the  Pilgrim¬ 
age,  so  they  start  to  equip  themselves  and  to  make  prepara¬ 
tions  for  it. 

Next  came  my  journey  from  Cairo  by  the  route  of  the 
Sa‘Id,  with  the  object  of  [crossing  to]  the  noble  Hijaz.185  I 

of  Shawwal,  on  the  departure  of  the  pilgrim  caravan.  For  the  history,  detail, 
and  significance  of  the  Mahmil  see  Lane,  Modern  Egyptians ;  J.  Jomier,  Le 
Mahmal  (Cairo,  1953);  E.I s.v.  Mahmal.  It  is  scarcely  possible  that  Ibn 
Battuta  should  have  himself  witnessed  this  procession  since  during  the 
whole  of  Rajab  in  this  year  726  (1326)  he  was  on  his  way  to  and  from 
‘Aidhab,  and  by  Shawwal  was  already  on  his  way  from  Damascus  to  Mecca; 
while  on  his  visit  to  Cairo  in  749  (vol.  IV,  324)  he  states  that  the  Rajab 
caravan  had  already  left  before  his  arrival. 

182  Text  ’Umana  ar-ru’asd’i. 

183  The  office  of  Amir  al-Hajj,  ‘Commander  of  the  Pilgrimage’,  although 
held  only  for  the  period  of  the  annual  journey  to  and  from  Mecca,  was  re¬ 
garded  as  one  of  the  most  honourable  offices  of  state,  and  under  the  early 
caliphate  was  always  held  by  princes  of  the  royal  house.  The  Amir  al-Hajj 
was  also  responsible  for  the  safety  of  the  caravan  from  bedouin  raiders  on 
its  way  to  and  from  Mecca  and  Madina. 

184  These  mamluks  engaged  in  mock  fights,  to  the  great  delight  of  the 
citizens,  but  in  later  years  the  fights  degenerated  and  were  stopped  (Jomier, 
38—41). 

185  Ibn  Battuta  must  have  set  out  from  Cairo  not  later  than  the  middle  of 
Second  Jumada  726  (c.  20  May  1326).  He  states  above  (p.  18)  that  he  reached 
Alexandria  on  1st  First  Jumada  (5  April),  and  below  (p.  71)  that  he  arrived 
back  in  Cairo  in  the  middle  of  Sha'ban  ( c .  15  July).  Ibn  Jubair  took  eighteen 

59 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 


stayed  on  the  night  following  my  departure  at  the  convent 
which  the  Sahib  Taj  al-Dln  ibn  Hanna'  built  at  Dair  al-Tln.186 
It  is  an  enormous  convent  built  by  him  for  the  sake  of  certain 
possessions  of  great  pride  and  illustrious  relics  that  he  de¬ 
posited  in  it,  namely,  a  fragment  of  the  wooden  basin  of  the 
Prophet  (God's  blessing  and  peace  upon  him),  the  pencil 
95  with  which  |  he  used  to  apply  kohl  to  his  eyes,  the  dirafsh, 
that  is  to  say,  the  awl,  which  he  used  for  sewing  his  sandals, 
and  the  Qur'an  of  the  Commander  of  the  Faithful  ‘All  b.  Abl 
Talib,  written  in  his  own  hand  (God  be  pleased  with  him). 
The  Sahib,  it  is  said,  bought  the  illustrious  relics  of  the  Pro¬ 
phet  which  we  have  mentioned  for  a  thousand  dirhams,  and 
built  the  convent,  and  endowed  it  with  funds  to  supply  food 
to  all  comers  and  goers  and  to  maintain  the  guardians  of  these 
sacred  relics — God  Most  High  profit  him  by  his  blessed 
purpose. 

After  leaving  this  convent  I  passed  by  Munyat  al-Qa'id,  a 
small  village  on  the  bank  of  the  Nile,187  and  from  there  I  went 
on  to  the  town  of  Bush.188  This  town  is  the  chief  centre  of  the 
Egyptian  linen  industry,  and  it  is  exported  thence  to  all  parts 
of  Egypt  and  to  Africa.189  After  leaving  this  place  I  reached 
the  town  of  Dalas;  this  town  also  is  a  centre  of  the  linen 

days  from  Cairo  to  Qus  travelling  by  boat,  Ibn  Battuta,  travelling  by  land 
on  the  west  bank,  must  have  taken  about  the  same  time  to  reach  Edfu.  He 
then  spent  fifteen  days  on  the  journey  from  Edfu  to  ‘Aidhab,  and  after  a 
short  stay  there  returned  to  Qus,  another  fifteen  days  at  least  (Ibn  Jubair 
took  nineteen  days  from  Qus  to  ‘Aidhab).  The  journey  downstream  from 
Qus  to  Cairo  was  made  in  eight  days,  in  the  flood  season.  Thus  the  round 
trip  occupied  (not  allowing  for  halts  of  more  than  a  day)  18+15  +  ?  +  15  +  8  — 
at  least  56  days. 

186  a  village  and  monastery  still  existing  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Nile 
about  two  miles  south  of  Old  Cairo.  Taj  al-DIn  (1243-1307)  was  one  of  the 
first  viziers  of  the  Sultan  al-Malik  al-Nasir  (hence  his  title  of  al-Sahib);  his 
father  and  grandfathers  were  also  former  viziers  in  Egypt  ( Durar ,  IV, 
201-2). 

187  On  the  left  bank  of  the  river,  in  the  district  of  Giza  (Ibn  Duqmaq,  IV, 
132) — perhaps  the  place  now  called  Mina  al-Amir,  seven  miles  south  of 
Giza. 

188  Bush  and  Dalas  (the  latter  north  of  the  former,  so  that  Ibn  Battuta  has 
inverted  the  order)  lie  close  together  between  al-Wasta  and  Beni-Suef, 
at  the  outlet  of  the  Fayyum,  which  was  the  chief  flax-growing  district  in 
Egypt.  The  linens  of  Bush  were  always  celebrated;  Dalas  on  the  other  hand 
is  mentioned  by  IdrisI  (ed.  Dozy  and  de  Goeje,  51)  as  a  centre  of  iron  manu¬ 
factures. 

189  See  p.  10,  n.  5. 


60 


UPPER  EGYPT 


industry,  like  that  we  have  just  mentioned,  |  and  from  there  96 
too  it  is  carried  to  [all  parts  of]  Egypt  and  to  Africa.  Thence  I 
continued  my  journey  to  the  town  of  Biba,190  and  from  there 
to  the  town  of  al-Bahnasa  which  is  a  large  town,  with  exten¬ 
sive  gardens,  and  in  which  are  manufactured  excellent  woollen 
fabrics.191  Amongst  those  whom  I  met  there  was  the  learned 
qadl,  Sharaf  al-DIn,  a  noble-minded  and  worthy  man,  and  I 
met  there  also  the  pious  shaikh  Abu  Bakr  al-'AjamT,  with 
whom  I  lodged  and  who  made  me  his  guest.  Thence  I  went  on 
to  the  town  of  Munyat  Ibn  Khaslb,  a  widely  spaced  town 
covering  an  extensive  area,  and  built  on  the  bank  of  the 
Nile.192  And  in  truth,  in  truth,  it  excels  all  the  other  towns  of 
the  Sa'Td,  having  colleges  and  sanctuaries,  religious  houses 
and  mosques.  In  ancient  times  it  was  a  village  belonging  to 
Khaslb,  the  governor  of  Egypt.  | 

The  story  of  Khaslb ,193  It  is  told  that  one  of  the  caliphs  of  97 
the  house  of  al-' Abbas  (God  be  pleased  with  them),  angered 
with  the  people  of  Egypt,  swore  to  appoint  as  governor  over 
them  the  most  contemptible  and  abject  of  his  slaves,  with  the 
object  of  humiliating  them  and  inflicting  upon  them  a  signal 
punishment.  Now  Khaslb  was  the  lowest  of  the  slaves,  since 
he  was  charged  with  the  duty  of  heating  the  bath.194  The 
caliph  conferred  upon  him  a  robe  of  honour  and  made  him 

190  Called  by  Ibn  Duqmaq  Biba  al-Kubra,  now  Bibba  al-Kubra,  15  miles 
south  of  Beni  Suef. 

191  Bahnasa,  the  ancient  Oxyrhynchus,  was  associated  by  Muslim  legend 
with  the  sojourn  of  the  Holy  Family  in  Egypt.  It  is  situated  not  on  the  main 
Nile,  but  on  the  old  branch  or  canal  which  leads  to  the  Fayyum,  now  called 
Bahr  Yusuf. 

192  The  modern  Minya,  half-way  between  Beni  Suef  and  Asyut.  Ibn 
Duqmaq  (V,  21-2)  also  says  of  it:  ‘There  is  no  finer  town  in  Upper  Egypt .  .  . 
with  markets,  covered  bazaars  and  abundance  of  goods  and  textiles,  yielding 
1000  dirhams  a  day  in  taxes,  a  fine  large  mosque,  three  bath-houses,  khans, 
and  many  villas  on  the  bank  of  the  Nile.  In  short,  I  know  no  town  in  Upper 
Egypt  more  prosperous  nor  more  full  of  oppression.’ 

193  This  is  an  odd  deformation  of  history  into  legend.  Al-Khasib  b.  ‘Abd 
al-Hamid  belonged  to  the  Persian  aristocracy,  took  service  in  the  chancery 
of  the  ‘Abbasid  caliphs,  and  was  appointed  finance  director  of  Egypt  in  803. 
His  liberality  attracted  many  poets  to  Egypt,  amongst  them  being  Abu 
Nuwas,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  Arab  poets;  and  the  verse  cited  below  is 
in  fact  taken  from  one  of  several  panegyrics  addressed  by  Abu  Nuwas  to 
al- Khaslb  in  Egypt. 

194  The  office  of  bath-warmer  appeared  the  more  degraded  that  in  the 
East,  and  particularly  in  Egypt,  where  wood  is  scarce,  dried  dung  is  gener¬ 
ally  used  for  stoking  the  baths  (note  by  Defremery  and  Sanguinetti) . 

6l 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

amir  over  Egypt,  thinking  that  he  would  conduct  himself 
towards  them  in  an  evil  manner  and  seek  occasions  to  injure 
them,  as  usually  happens  in  the  case  of  those  who  are  given 
authority  with  no  previous  experience  of  high  office.  When, 
however,  Khasib  found  himself  settled  in  Egypt,  he  con¬ 
ducted  himself  towards  its  inhabitants  with  the  utmost  mag¬ 
nanimity,  and  acquired  a  name  for  liberality  and  open- 
handedness.  The  relatives  of  the  caliphs,  amongst  others, 
used  to  visit  him,  when  he  would  make  them  munificent  gifts, 
and  they  returned  to  Baghdad  full  of  gratitude  for  his  gener¬ 
osity  towards  them.  The  story  goes  on  that  the  caliph  re- 

98  marked  the  absence  |  of  a  certain  member  of  the  'Abbasid 
family,  and  that  he  was  away  from  him  for  some  time  and 
then  came  back.  So  the  caliph  asked  him  the  reason  of  his 
absence,  and  he  told  him  that  he  had  gone  to  visit  Khasib, 
and  stated  what  Khasib  had  given  him,  which  was  a  con¬ 
siderable  gift.  The  caliph  was  enraged,  and  commanded  that 
Khasib  should  have  his  eyes  put  out,  be  fetched  up  from 
Egypt  to  Baghdad,  and  thrown  into  the  bazaars  there. 

When  the  order  to  arrest  him  arrived,  he  was  denied 
entrance  into  his  house,  but  he  had  on  his  hand  a  jewel  of 
great  value,  which  he  hid  on  his  person  and  sewed  up  by 
night  into  one  of  his  garments.  After  he  had  suffered  the  loss 
of  his  eyes  and  was  thrown  into  the  bazaars  of  Baghdad,  he 
was  accosted  by  a  certain  poet  who  said  to  him,  'O  Khasib,  I 
went  from  Baghdad  to  seek  you  in  Egypt,  in  order  to  sing 
your  praises  in  an  ode,  but  my  arrival  there  happened  to 
coincide  with  your  departure;  still  I  should  like  you  to  hear 
it’.  'What  use  is  there  in  my  hearing  it’,  exclaimed  Khasib, 
'when  I  am  as  you  see  me?'  'All  that  I  want’,  said  the  poet,  | 

99  ‘is  that  you  should  hear  it;  as  for  the  gift,  you  have  given  to 
others,  and  that  lavishly — God  reward  you  with  good’.  ‘Go 
on  then’,  said  he,  and  the  poet  recited: 

Khasib,  the  fruitful  to  bestow,  by  Egypt's  Nile  alights; 

Let  high  the  golden  tide  overflow,  since  sea  with  sea 
unites.195 


195  The  verse  runs  literally  ‘Thou  art  al- Khasib  and  this  is  Misr — overflow 
then  both,  since  each  of  you  is  a  sea’.  The  point  of  the  word  play  is  that 
khasib  in  Arabic  means  ‘fertile,  abundant’,  and  as  applied  to  a  man  ‘generous’ . 
The  Nile  is  always  called  in  Arabic  al-bahr,  ‘the  sea’. 

62 


UPPER  EGYPT 


When  he  came  to  the  end  of  the  ode,  Khaslb  said  to  him, 
‘Unpick  this  piece  of  sewing’,  and  when  he  had  done  so  bade 
him  take  the  jewel.  He  refused,  but  Khaslb  adjured  him  to 
take  it,  so  he  took  it  and  went  off  with  it  to  the  jewellers’ 
bazaar.  When  he  displayed  it  to  them  they  said  ‘Such  a  jewel 
is  fitting  for  none  but  the  caliph’;  they  brought  it  therefore  to 
the  notice  of  the  caliph,  who  commanded  that  the  poet 
should  be  sent  for,  and  questioned  him  on  the  subject  of  the 
jewel.  The  poet  told  him  the  story  of  it,  whereupon  the 
caliph  repented  of  what  he  had  done  to  Khaslb,  and  com¬ 
manding  him  to  be  brought  into  his  presence,  gave  him 
a  large  sum  of  money  and  bade  him  choose  what  he 
would  like.  He  requested  the  caliph  to  give  him  this  village, 
the  request  was  granted,  |  and  Khaslb  lived  in  it  until  his 
death,  bequeathing  it  to  his  descendants  until  they  became 
extinct. 

The  qadi  of  this  Munya  at  the  time  of  my  arrival  there  was 
Fakhr  al-Dln  al-Nuwairi  al-Malikl196  and  its  governor  was 
Shams  al-Dln,  an  excellent  and  generous  amir.  One  day  I 
entered  the  bath-house  in  this  township,  and  found  the  men 
in  it  wearing  no  covering.  This  appeared  a  shocking  thing  to 
me,  and  I  went  to  the  governor  and  informed  him  of  it.  He 
told  me  not  to  leave  and  ordered  the  lessees  of  [all]  the  bath¬ 
houses  to  be  brought  before  him.  Articles  were  formally 
drawn  up  [there  and  then]  making  them  subject  to  penalties 
if  any  person  should  enter  a  bath  without  a  waist-wrapper, 
and  the  governor  behaved  to  them  with  the  greatest  severity, 
after  which  I  took  leave  of  him. 

From  Munyat  ibn  Khaslb  I  travelled  to  the  town  of 
Manlawl,  a  small  place  built  at  a  distance  of  two  miles  from 
the  Nile.197  The  qadi  there  was  the  jurist  Sharaf  al-Dln 
al-Damlrl  |  al-Shafi‘1,  and  its  principal  inhabitants  are  a  clan 
known  as  the  Banu  Fudail,  one  of  whom  built  a  congrega¬ 
tional  mosque  which  cost  him  the  core  of  his  wealth.  In  this 
town  there  are  eleven  sugar  presses,  and  it  is  one  of  their 
customs  never  to  hinder  an  indigent  person  from  going  into 
any  pressing  shed,  so  a  poor  man  will  come  with  a  piece  of 
warm  bread  and  throw  it  into  the  vat  in  which  the  sugar  is 

is®  Probably  related  to  the  former  Malikite  Grand  Qadi;  see  p.  57,  n.  179. 

197  Now  Mallawi,  and  so  written  by  Ibn  Duqmaq  (V,  21). 

F  63  T.O.I.B. 


100 


101 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

being  cooked,  and  then  pick  it  out  again  soaked  with  sugar 
and  go  off  with  it. 

From  this  place  Manlawl  I  went  on  to  the  town  of  Man¬ 
falut,198  a  town  of  pleasant  appearance  and  elegant  construc¬ 
tion,  on  the  bank  of  the  Nile,  and  of  celebrated  sanctity. 

Anecdote.  The  people  of  this  town  told  me  that  al-Malik 
al-Nasir  (God’s  mercy  upon  him)  gave  orders  for  the  construc¬ 
tion  of  a  large  mimbar199  of  solid  workmanship  and  admirable 

102  style,  which  was  intended  for  |  the  Sacred  Mosque  [of  Mecca] 
(God  increase  it  in  nobility  and  veneration).  When  it  was 
completed,  he  gave  orders  that  it  should  be  taken  up  the 
Nile,  in  order  to  be  transported  to  the  sea  of  Judda,  and  then 
on  to  Mecca  (God  ennoble  her).  But  when  the  vessel  which 
carried  it  reached  Manfalut  and  drew  level  with  its  congrega¬ 
tional  mosque,  it  stopped  and  refused  to  proceed,  in  spite  of 
the  assistance  of  the  wind.  Those  on  board  were  intensely 
amazed  at  its  behaviour,  and  as  they  stayed  there  for  several 
days  while  the  boat  refused  to  move  with  them,  they  wrote 
an  account  of  the  incident  to  al-Malik  al-Nasir  (God’s  mercy 
upon  him).  He  ordered  that  mimbar  to  be  placed  in  the  con¬ 
gregational  mosque  of  the  town  of  Manfalut,  which  was  done, 
and  I  saw  it  there  with  my  own  eyes. 

In  this  town  there  is  manufactured  a  kind  of  honey,  which 
they  extract  from  wheat  and  call  naida;200  it  is  sold  in  the 
bazaars  of  Cairo. 

I  travelled  from  this  town  to  the  town  of  Asyut,201  a  hand- 

103  some  town  with  choice  bazaars.  |  Its  qadi  was  Sharaf  al-Dln 
b.  ‘Abd  al-Rahlm,  known  far  and  wide  by  the  nickname  of 
'Revenue  Nil’,  which  originated  in  this  way.  The  qadis  in 
Egypt  and  Syria  administer  the  waqfs202  and  alms  for  the 

198  Manfalut,  fifteen  miles  north  of  Asyut,  was  the  military  headquarters 
of  Upper  Egypt  (Ibn  Duqmaq,  V,  22). 

199  The  mimbar  is  the  tall  pulpit,  with  a  flight  of  steps  leading  to  the  plat¬ 
form  from  which  the  formal  allocutions  are  delivered  at  the  congregational 
Friday  prayers. 

200  A  sweet  confection  made  by  soaking  the  grain  for  a  few  days,  then 
drying  and  pounding  it,  after  which  it  is  cooked  to  a  certain  heat  in  water. 
Savary  (Eng.  trans.  II,  2-3)  describes  the  same  conserve,  under  the  same 
name,  made  at  Manshia:  ‘melting,  sweet,  and  very  nutritive.’ 

201  Asyut  was  the  residence  of  the  Governor-General  of  Upper  Egypt, 
according  to  Ibn  Duqmaq,  although  Ibn  Battuta  places  his  residence  at 
Qus. 

202  A  waqf  is  a  charitable  endowment,  dedicated  to  a  special  purpose  in 

64 


UPPER  EGYPT 


benefit  of  travellers.  When  a  poor  man  comes  to  any  of  the 
towns,  he  goes  to  the  qadl  of  the  place,  who  gives  him  what¬ 
ever  amount  is  assigned  to  him.  Now  this  qadl,  when  any 
poor  person  applied  to  him,  used  to  say  to  him  'Revenue 
nil’,  that  is,  there  is  nothing  left  of  the  money  produced  by 
the  endowments.  So  he  came  to  be  called  by  this  nickname 
and  it  stuck  to  him.  Amongst  the  worthy  shaikhs  in  this  town 
was  the  pious  Shihab  al-Dln  ibn  al-Sabbagh,  who  received 
me  as  a  guest  in  his  convent. 

Thence  I  journeyed  to  the  town  of  Ikhmlm,203  which  is  a 
place,  solidly  built  and  of  imposing  appearance.  Here  is  the 
herb  a  which  is  known  by  the  name  of  the  town.  It  is  built  of 
stones,  and  in  the  interior  there  are  sculptures  and  writing  of 
the  ancients,  which  is  not  understood  in  these  days,  |  and  io4 
images  of  the  spheres  and  stars.  They  assert  that  it  was  built 
when  the  Flying  Eagle  was  in  the  sign  of  the  Scorpion.  It 
contains  also  images  of  animals  and  other  things,  and  the 
people  tell  a  number  of  fanciful  stories,  over  which  it  is  not 
necessary  to  linger,  on  the  subject  of  these  images.  There  was 
at  Ikhmlm  a  man  known  as  the  Preacher,  who  ordered  the 
destruction  of  one  of  these  berbas  and  built  a  college  with  its 
stones.  He  was  a  wealthy  man,  well  known  for  his  liberal 
charity,  and  his  detractors  say  that  he  acquired  the  riches 
which  he  possessed  by  his  continual  haunting  of  this  berba.  I 
stopped  in  this  town  in  the  convent  of  the  Shaikh  Abu’l- 
‘  Abbas  b.  ‘Abd  al-Zahir,  in  which  is  the  tomb  of  his  grand¬ 
father  ‘Abd  al-Zahir.204  He  has  several  brothers,  Nasir  al-Dln, 
Majd  al-Dln,  and  Wahid  al-Dln,  and  it  is  their  custom  to  meet 
together  after  the  congregational  Friday  prayer,  along  with 
the  preacher  Nur  al-Din  of  whom  I  have  just  spoken,  his 
sons,  the  qadl  of  the  town  |  (the  jurist  Mukhlis),  and  the  io5 

perpetuity  from  the  revenues  of  a  parcel  of  land  or  immovable  property, 
and  administered  by  a  supervisor. 

203  Akhmlm,  the  ancient  Khemmis  or  Panopolis,  on  the  bend  of  the  Nile 
east  of  Sohag.  Its  ancient  Egyptian  temple  {berba)  is  described  in  all  medieval 
works,  although  it  was  already  in  ruins  by  this  time,  chiefly  because  it  was 
associated  with  Hermes  the  Great  (see  above  p.  51,  n.  158).  It  is  noteworthy 
that  Ibn  Battuta  does  not  mention  any  of  the  other  berbas  in  Upper  Egypt, 
even  at  Luxor  (see  p.  67,  n.  212). 

204  ‘Abd  al-Zahir  b.  ‘Abd  al-Wall,  a  descendant  of  Ja'far,  the  brother  of 
‘All  (see  p.  179,  n.  88).  The  persons  named  were  his  descendants  in  the  sixth 
generation  ( Durar ,  III,  11). 


65 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

other  leading  citizens,  when  they  ‘seal’  the  Qur’an  and  recite 
hymns  of  praise  to  God  until  the  time  of  the  afternoon  prayer. 
When  they  finish  this  prayer,  they  read  the  chapter  of  the 
Cave205  and  then  disperse. 

I  continued  on  my  way  from  Ikhmlm  to  the  town  of  Hu,206 
a  large  town  on  the  bank  of  the  Nile,  where  I  stayed  at  the 
college  of  TaqI  al-Dln  ibn  al-Sarraj.  I  saw  them  reciting  there 
every  day  after  the  dawn  prayer  a  section  of  the  Qur’an  and 
afterwards  reciting  the  devotions  of  Shaikh  Abu’l-Hasan 
al-ShadhilT  and  the  'Litany  of  the  Sea’.207  In  this  town  lives 
the  Sayyid  Sharif  Abu  Muhammad  'Abdallah  al-Hasani,  one 
of  the  saintliest  of  men.208 

A  miracle  of  his .  I  went  to  visit  this  Sharif,  for  the  sake  of 
the  blessing  conferred  by  seeing  and  greeting  him.  When  he 
asked  me  what  I  proposed  to  do,  and  I  told  him  that  I 
intended  to  make  the  Pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  House  by  way  of 
Judda,  he  replied  'You  will  not  succeed  in  doing  that  on  this 
106  occasion.  Go  back,  |  for  you  will  make  your  first  Pilgrimage 
by  the  Syrian  Road  and  no  other.’  So  I  took  leave  of  him;  but 
instead  of  acting  upon  his  advice  I  continued  on  my  way  until 
I  got  to  'Aidhab,  and  then,  as  I  could  not  manage  to  complete 
the  journey,  I  turned  back  and  retraced  my  steps  to  Cairo, 
and  from  there  on  to  Syria,  and  my  route  on  the  first  of  my 
Pilgrimages  was  indeed  along  the  Syrian  Road,  just  as  the 
Sharif  had  told  me  (God  profit  us  by  him). 

I  went  on  next  to  the  town  of  Qina,  a  small  place 
with  agreeable  bazaars.209  In  it  is  the  tomb  of  the  pious 
sharif  and  saint,  'Abd  al-Rahlm  al-QinawI,  author  of  many 
marvellous  proofs  [of  sanctity]  and  celebrated  miracles.  I 
saw  in  the  Saifiya  College  there  his  grandson  Shihab  al-Din 
Ahmad. 

From  this  township  I  continued  my  journey  to  the  town  of 
Qus,  a  large  town  furnished  with  all  manner  of  good  things, 

205  The  1 8th  sura  of  the  Qur’an,  which  contains  the  story  of  the  Seven 
Sleepers. 

206  Hu,  formerly  Diospolis  Parva,  on  the  bend  of  the  Nile  halfway  between 
Girga  and  Qina. 

207  See  p.  25  above. 

208  Not  identified. 

209  Ibn  Duqmaq  (V,  33)  describes  Qina  as  a  large  town,  famous  for  the 
number  of  religious  leaders  that  it  had  produced,  and  its  cemetery  was 
visited  by  pilgrims  from  all  parts. 


66 


UPPER  EGYPT 


whose  fruit  gardens  are  leafy  and  bazaars  are  elegant,  and 
which  boasts  many  mosques  and  storied  colleges.  It  is  the  seat 
of  residence  of  the  governors  of  the  Sa'Id.210  In  its  outskirts 
is  the  convent  of  Shaikh  Shihab  al-Din  |  b.  ‘Abd  al-Ghaffar  107 
and  the  convent  of  al-Afram,  in  which  there  is  held  every 
year  in  the  month  of  Ramadan  a  gathering  of  Poor  Brethren 
who  have  renounced  all  the  goods  and  pleasures  of  this  world. 
Amongst  the  men  of  learning  there  are  the  qadl  of  the  town, 
Jamal  al-Din  b.  al-Sadid,  and  its  preacher  Fat'h  al-Din  b. 
Daqiq  al-Td,  one  of  those  elegant  and  eloquent  orators  who 
are  pre-eminent  in  their  mastery  of  language.211  I  never  met 
anyone  who  could  rival  him  except  the  Preacher  of  the 
Sacred  Mosque  [at  Mecca],  Baha  al-Din  al-Tabari,  and  the 
preacher  of  the  city  of  Khwarizm,  Husam  al-Din  al-Mash- 
shati,  both  of  whom  will  be  mentioned  in  due  course.  Other 
scholars  of  note  in  Qus  are  the  jurist  Baha  al-Din  b.  ‘Abd 
al-‘Aziz,  professor  in  the  Malikite  college,  and  the  jurist 
Burhan  al-Din  Ibrahim  al-Andalusi,  who  is  the  director  of  a 
fine  convent. 

Thence  I  travelled  to  the  town  of  al-Aqsur  (Luxor),  a  pretty 
little  place  containing  the  tomb  of  the  pious  ascetic  Abu‘l- 
Hajjaj  al-Aqsuri,  beside  which  there  is  a  convent, 212  and  from 
there  to  |  the  town  of  Armant,  a  small  place  with  fruit  gar-  108 
dens,  built  on  the  bank  of  the  Nile.213  I  was  the  guest  of  the 
qadi  there,  but  have  forgotten  his  name. 

From  there  I  continued  my  journey  to  the  town  of  Asna, 
which  is  a  large  town  of  broad  streets  and  vast  resources, 
with  numerous  religious  houses,  colleges  and  mosques,  and 

210  Ibn  Duqmaq  (V,  28)  states  that  it  was  the.  residence  of  the  military 
commander  of  the  Sa'id,  although  he  had  already  used  the  same  phrase 
about  Manfalut  (see  p.  64,  nn.  198  and  201).  He  mentions  sixteen  colleges 
at  Qus;  the  same  figure  is  given  by  al-AdfawI  (fol.  7a),  as  compared  with 
three  in  Aswan  and  two  at  Qina. 

211  Jamal  al-Din  Muhammad  b.  ‘Abd  al-Wahhab  b.  al-Sadid  al-Isna'i, 
1279 -c.  1342  ( Durar ,  IV,  36:  calls  him  preacher  at  Qus) .  Ibn  Hajar  mentions 
no  Fat’h  al-Din,  but  Jalal  al-Din  Muhammad  b.  ‘Othman  b.  Muhammad 
Ibn  Daqiq  al-Td,  d.  1326/7,  a  professor  at  Qus  (Durar,  IV,  43). 

212  Abu’l-Hajjaj  Yusuf  b.  ‘Abd  al-Rahim  b.  ‘Arabi  al-Qurashi  (d.  1244) 
was  a  pupil  of  the  Moroccan  saint  al-Jazuli.  His  tomb  still  stands  inside  a 
mosque  in  the  ruined  temple  of  Amenophis  III,  on  the  site  of  an  earlier 
sanctuary. 

213  The  site  of  the  famous  temple  of  the  hawk-headed  god  Mentu,  which  is 
described  in  considerable  detail  by  Ibn  Duqmaq  (V,  29). 

67 


NORTH-WEST  AFRICA  AND  EGYPT 

possessing  good  bazaars  and  well-stocked  fruit  gardens.214 
Its  qadi  is  the  Grand  Qadi  Shihab  al-Dln  b.  Maskin,  who  not 
only  made  me  the  recipient  of  his  own  hospitality  and  liber¬ 
ality,  but  also  wrote  to  his  deputies  recommending  me  to 
their  good  offices.  Among  the  worthies  there  were  the  pious 
shaikh  Nur  al-Din  'All  and  the  pious  shaikh  ‘Abd  al- Wahid 
al-Miknasi,  who  is  at  the  present  time  the  superior  of  a 
convent  at  Qus. 

I  went  on  from  there  to  the  town  of  Adfu,  between  which 
109  and  Asna  is  |  a  day  and  a  night's  journey  through  desert 
country.215  Then,  crossing  the  Nile  from  the  town  of  Adfu  to 
that  of  al-‘Atwani,  we  hired  camels  from  there  and  set  out 
with  a  party  of  Arabs,  known  as  Daghim  (or  Dughaim), 
through  a  desert  totally  devoid  of  settlements  but  quite  safe 
for  travelling.216  At  one  of  our  halts  on  the  way  we  encamped 
at  Humaithira,  the  site  of  the  tomb  of  the  saint  Abu'l-Hasan 
al-Shadhili,  whose  miraculous  foretelling  that  he  would  die 
there  we  have  related  above.217  The  place  is  infested  with 
hyenas,  and  during  the  night  of  our  stay  there  we  were 
continually  occupied  in  driving  them  off.  Indeed  one  of  the 
animals  got  at  my  baggage,  ripped  up  a  camel-sack  which 
was  amongst  it,  dragged  out  a  small  skin  of  dates  and  made 
off  with  it.  We  found  the  skin  when  we  rose  next  morning, 
torn  to  pieces  and  with  most  of  the  contents  eaten. 

At  length,  after  travelling  for  fifteen  days  [through  the 
desert],  we  reached  the  town  of  ‘Aidhab,  a  large  town,  well 
no  supplied  with  fish  |  and  milk;218  dates  and  grain  are  imported 

214  The  district  of  Isna  (Esna)  was  noted  for  its  production  of  dates  and 
raisins,  and  the  town  itself,  according  to  Ibn  Duqmaq  (V,  30),  had  13,000 
houses  and  two  colleges. 

216  This  phrase  is  puzzling,  especially  as  Ibn  Duqmaq  (V,  29)  refers  to  its 
flourishing  region.  ‘  Atwani  does  not  seem  to  be  mentioned  by  the  geographers. 

216  A  tribe  of  unknown  Arab  origin;  see  H.  A.  MacMichael,  A  History  of  the 
Arabs  in  the  Sudan  (Cambridge,  1922),  I,  332. 

217  See  p.  24  above.  For  Humaithira  see  J.  Ball,  Geography  of  South-eastern 
Egypt  (1912),  32  (with  plate  V)  and  85-6;  J.  Couyat,  ‘Les  routes  d’Aidhab’ 
[Bull,  de  V Inst.  franQ.  d’ Arche ologie  Orientate,  VIII,  135-43). 

218  From  the  eleventh  to  the  fourteenth  century  ‘Aidhab  was  the  terminal 
port  for  the  maritime  trade  with  the  Yemen  and  India  and  a  place  of  great 
importance.  It  was  destroyed  by  the  Sultan  of  Egypt  in  1426,  and  its  place 
taken  by  the  rival  port  of  Sawakin  (Suakin).  Its  ruins  have  been  identified 
by  G.  W.  Murray,  Geogr.  J.,  LXVIII  (1926),  235-40,  ‘on  a  flat  and  waterless 
mound’  on  the  Red  Sea  coast,  12  miles  north  of  Halaib,  at  220  20'  N., 
36°  29' 32" E. 


68 


‘  AIDHAB 


from  Upper  Egypt.  Its  inhabitants  are  the  Bujah,  black¬ 
skinned  people,  who  wrap  themselves  in  yellow  blankets  and 
tie  headbands,  each  about  a  fingerbreadth  wide,  round  their 
heads.219  They  give  daughters  no  share  in  their  inheritance.220 
Their  food  is  camel's  milk  and  they  ride  on  mahri  dromedaries, 
which  they  call  by  the  name  of  suhb ,221  One-third  of  the  city 
belongs  to  [the  Sultan  of  Egypt]  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  and  two- 
thirds  to  the  king  of  the  Bujah,  who  is  called  al-Hadrabi.222  In 
the  town  of  ‘Aidhab  there  is  a  mosque,  attributed  to  al- 
Qastallanl,223  famous  for  its  blessed  power;  I  saw  it  and 
visited  it  to  profit  by  its  blessing.  In  this  town  too  live  the 
pious  shaikh  Musa  and  the  aged  shaikh  Muhammad  al- 
Marrakushi,  who  declares  that  he  is  a  son  of  al-Murtada,  the 
king  of  Marrakush,  and  that  he  is  ninety-five  years  of  age.224 

On  reaching  ‘Aidhab  we  found  that  al-Hadrabi,  the  sultan 
of  the  Bujah,  was  engaged  in  hostilities  with  the  Turks,225 
that  he  had  sunk  the  ships,  |  and  the  Turks  had  fled  before  m 
him.  It  was  impossible  for  us  to  make  the  sea-crossing,  so  we 
sold  the  provisions  that  we  had  made  ready,  and  returning 
to  Upper  Egypt  with  the  Arabs  from  whom  we  had  hired  the 
camels,  arrived  back  at  the  town  of  Qus,  which  has  already 
been  mentioned.  We  sailed  thence  down  the  Nile  (it  was  the 
flood  season),  and  after  a  passage  of  eight  nights  from  Qus 
arrived  at  Cairo. 

219  These  are  the  Bejas,  who  were  still  for  the  most  part  pagans  at  this 
period;  see  J.  S.  Trimingham,  Islam  in  the  Sudan  (1949),  10-12  and  58  n.  5. 

220  According  to  the  explicit  text  of  the  Qur’an,  daughters  have  specified 
shares  in  the  inheritance,  but  if  there  are  sons  the  share  of  each  son  is  twice 
that  of  each  daughter. 

221  The  dromedaries  of  Mahra  in  Southern  Arabia  were  the  fastest  riding 
camels;  the  breed  referred  to  here  by  Ibn  Battuta  are  the  reddish-white 
Bishari  camels,  see  J.  L.  Burckhardt,  Travels  in  Nubia  (London,  1819),  503. 

222  The  Hadrabi  or  Hadrubi  tribe  was  said  to  be  of  Arab  origin,  who  made 
their  capital  at  Kina  near  ‘Aidhab;  but  the  plural  Hadariba  is  used  earlier 
of  the  Bejas  as  a  whole.  One  of  the  eastern  branches  of  the  Hadendoa  is  still 
called  by  the  same  name,  and  claims  descent  from  the  old  ruling  family. 

223  Qutb  al-Din  Muhammad  b.  Ahmad  al-Tawzarl  al-Qastallani  (1217-87) 
was  a  noted  sufi  shaikh;  Subki,  Tabaqat  al-Shafi‘iyya,  V,  18;  Tallqvist, 
Geschichte  der  Ihliden,  106. 

224  Abu  Hafs  ‘Umar  al-Murtada  was  the  twelfth  sovereign  of  the  Almohads 
of  Morocco;  he  reigned  1248-66. 

225  The  mamluk  troops  of  the  Sultan  of  Egypt. 


69 


7° 


CHAPTER  II 


Syria 

I  stayed  only  one  night  in  Cairo  before  setting  out  for 
Syria.  This  was  in  the  middle  of  Sha'ban  of  the  year  26. 1 1 
then  travelled  to  the  town  of  Balbais;  it  is  a  large  town 
with  many  fruit-gardens,2  but  I  did  not  see  there  anyone 
whom  I  should  wish3  to  mention.  I  came  next  to  al-Salihlya,4 
after  which  we  entered  the  sands  and  halted  at  the  post¬ 
stations  on  the  way  through,  such  as  al-Sawada,  al-Warrada, 
al-Mutailib,  al-'Arish,  and  al-Kharruba.5  |  At  each  of  these  112 
stations  there  is  a  hostelry  (funduq),  which  they  call  a  khan* 
where  travellers  alight  with  their  beasts,  and  outside  each 
khan  is  a  public  watering-place7  and  a  shop  at  which  the 

1  Sha'ban  726  =3-31  July  1326. 

2  The  well-known  town,  usually  spelled  Bilbais,  thirty-three  miles  north¬ 
east  from  Cairo  (10  farsakhs  according  to  the  Arabic  roadbooks),  situated 
at  the  edge  of  the  Delta  and  hence  from  early  times  the  main  fortress  pro¬ 
tecting  the  Delta  from  attack  from  the  east.  It  was  at  this  time  a  flourishing 
city,  capital  of  the  province  of  Sharqlya,  and  the  headquarters  of  a  military 
command. 

3  The  text  has  nuhibbu — the  first  of  several  clear  cases  of  Moroccan  collo¬ 
quial  usage  in  Ibn  Battuta's  narrative.. 

4  The  old  route  from  Bilbais  direct  to  al-Farama  (Pelusium)  was  super¬ 
seded  at  this  time  by  the  route  here  described.  Al-Salihlya  was  founded  by 
the  Ayyubid  sultan  al-Malik  al-Salih  Ayyub  (reigned  1240-9),  great-nephew 
of  Saladin,  as  a  frontier  fortress.  The  region  of  ‘the  sands’  up  to  the  frontier 
at  Rafah  was  called  al-Jifar;  see  Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  La  Syrie  a 
Vepoque  des  Mamelouks  (Paris,  1923),  6-7. 

5  The  correct  order  is  Qatya  (see  below),  al-Mutailib,  al-Sawada,  al- 
Warrada,  al-‘ArIsh,  al-Kharruba,  according  to  the  list  of  post-stations 
given  in  the  works  of  Mamluk  administration;  e.g.  Khalil  al-Zahirl,  Zubdat 
Kashf  al-Mamalik,  tr.  J.  Gaulmier  (Beyrouth,  1950),  201.  Al-Kharruba  was 
on  the  Egyptian  frontier  close  by  Rafah.  The  postal  system  in  Egypt  and 
Syria,  reorganized  by  the  Mamluk  Baibars  for  official  despatches  and  the 
transport  of  snow  to  Egypt,  has  been  studied  by  J.  Sauvaget,  La  poste  aux 
chevaux  dans  l’ empire  des  Mamelouks  (Paris,  1941). 

6  A  hostelry  ( funduq ,  khan,  or  karawansaray)  is  usually  a  square  walled 
building  enclosing  a  courtyard;  beasts  and  baggage  are  lodged  in  the  lower 
story,  and  travellers  in  the  upper  story. 

7  Saniya  li’s-sabil;  according  to  the  glossary  in  Dozy  and  de  Goeje, 

7* 


SYRIA 


traveller  may  buy  what  he  requires  for  himself  and  his  beast. 
Amongst  these  stations  is  the  well-known  place  called 
Qatya,8  which  the  people  pronounce  Qatya,  where  zakat  is 
collected  from  the  merchants,9  their  goods  are  examined,  and 
their  baggage  most  rigorously  searched.  There  are  govern¬ 
ment  offices  here,  with  officers,  clerks,  and  notaries,  and  its 
daily  revenue  is  a  thousand  gold  dinars.10  No  one  may  pass 
this  place  in  the  direction  of  Syria* 11  without  a  passport  from 
Egypt,  nor  into  Egypt  without  a  passport  from  Syria,  as  a 
measure  of  protection  for  a  person’s  property  and  of  pre¬ 
caution  against  spies  from  ‘Iraq.12  This  road  is  under  guaran¬ 
tee  of  the  bedouins  (that  is  to  say,  they  have  been  made 
responsible  for  guarding  it).  At  nightfall  they  smooth  down 
ii3  the  sand  so  that  no  |  mark  is  left  on  it,  then  the  governor 
comes  in  the  morning  and  examines  the  sand.  If  he  finds  any 
track  on  it  he  requires  the  Arabs  to  fetch  the  person  who 
made  it,  and  they  set  out  in  pursuit  of  him  and  never  fail  to 
catch  him.13  They  then  bring  him  to  the  governor,  who 
punishes  him  as  he  sees  fit. 

[The  governor]  at  Qatya,  at  the  time  of  my  reaching  it, 
was  Tzz  al-Dln,  the  Ustadh.  al-Dar,  Aqmarl,14  one  of  the  best 


Description  de  V Afrique  .  .  .  par  Edrisi,  522,  this  means  a  public  fountain 
similar  to  the  modern  sabtl.  But  Ibn  Battuta  probably  means  a  saniya  in  its 
more  usual  sense  of  a  well  from  which  water  is  raised  by  a  wheel  turned  by  a 
camel. 

8  According  to  Yaqut,  Qatya  was  largely  a  collection  of  huts,  near  al- 
Farama,  the  ancient  Pelusium,  on  the  coast  eastward  from  the  Suez  Canal. 

9  Zakat,  the  canonical  alms  tax,  was  exacted  on  the  gold  and  silver  carried 
by  merchants  entering  Egypt,  at  the  rate  of  five  per  cent  (Qalqashandi,  III, 
461).  But  in  addition  they  were  required  to  pay  customs  according  to  a 
regular  schedule  on  all  goods,  and  al-Qalqashandi  {ibid.  470)  describes 
Qatya  as  ‘producing  the  largest  yield  of  all  points  of  entry,  and  the  most 
harassing  for  the  merchants’. 

10  The  standard  weight  of  the  gold  dinar  was  65.3  grains  or  4.23  grammes, 
but  the  Mamluk  coinage  presents  wide  variations. 

11  The  text  has,  by  mistake,  ‘from  Syria’. 

12  For  the  specimen  of  the  text  of  a  passport  see  Sauvaget,  La  poste,  45. 
On  the  permanent  hostility  between  the  Mamluks  and  the  Mongol  rulers  of 
Traq  and  Persia  see  below,  p.  108. 

13  The  skill  of  the  Arab  trackers  in  al-Jifar  is  noted  also  by  the  geographer 
Yaqut.  Qalqashandi  (XIV,  378)  also  describes  the  smoothing  of  the  sand  at 
nightfall  and  the  setting  of  Arab  guards  at  Qatya. 

14  The  ustadh  al-dar  (ustadar)  or  majordomo  had  charge  of  the  sultan’s 
household  and  commanded  his  escort,  but  frequently  held  a  military  com¬ 
mand  in  the  provinces.  I  have  not  identified  Tzz  al-Din  Aqmarl. 

72 


GAZA  AND  HEBRON 


of  the  amirs.  He  showed  me  hospitality,  treated  me  honour¬ 
ably,  and  gave  free  passage  to  those  who  were  with  me.  On 
his  staff  was  the  inspector  ‘Abd  al-Jalll  al-Maghribl,  who  was 
familiar  with  the  Maghribins  and  their  lands,  and  whose  duty 
it  was  to  ask  of  each  of  them  who  arrived  from  what  country 
he  came,  so  that  there  might  be  no  doubt  as  to  their  identity; 
for  the  Maghribins  are  allowed  to  pass  through  Qatya 
without  hindrance. 

From  there  we  went  on  to  the  town  of  Ghazza  (Gaza), 
which  is  the  first  of  the  towns  of  Syria  on  the  borders  of 
Egypt,  a  place  of  spacious  dimensions  and  large  |  population,  i 
with  fine  bazaars.  It  contains  numerous  mosques,  and  there  is 
no  wall  round  it.  There  was  formerly  a  fine  congregational 
mosque  in  the  town.  The  mosque  in  which  the  Friday  service 
is  now  held  there  was  built  by  the  illustrious  amir  al-Jawall; 
it  is  an  elegant  building  of  solid  construction  and  its  mimbar 
is  made  of  white  marble.15  The  qadl  of  Ghazza  was  Badr 
al-Dln  of  Salkhad  in  Hawran,  and  the  professor  of  its  madrasa 
‘Alam  al-Dln  b.  Salim.  The  Salim  family  are  the  most  not¬ 
able  inhabitants  of  this  town,  and  one  of  them  is  Shams  al- 
Dln,  the  qadl  of  Jerusalem. 

Next  I  travelled  from  Ghazza  to  the  town  of  al-Khalll 
[Hebron] — God  bless  and  give  peace  to  our  Prophet  and  to 
him.16  It  is  a  town  of  small  extent  but  high  distinction  and 
shining  splendours,  pleasant  in  outward  appearance  and 
admirable  in  inner  quality,  lying  in  the  hollow  of  a  valley.  Its 
mosque  is  an  elegant  edifice,  substantially  built,  of  striking 
beauty  and  imposing  height,  and  constructed  of  squared 
stones.  In  one  angle  of  it  there  is  a  stone,  one  |  of  whose  faces  i 
measures  thirty-seven  spans.17  It  is  said  that  Solomon  (peace 

16  ‘Alam  al-Din  Abu  Sa'Id  Sanjar  b.  ‘Abdallah  al-Jawali  (1255-1344),  one 
of  the  principal  amirs  of  al-Malik  al-Nasir  and  a  scholar  as  well,  noted  for 
his  many  religious  and  other  buildings  during  his  term  of  governorship  in 
Palestine  ( Durar ,  II,  170-2).  His  mosque  at  Gaza  (al- Jawallya)  built  on  the 
foundation  of  a  crusaders’  church  is  still  in  use,  and  bears  an  inscription  with 
his  name,  dated  718  (1318);  Repertoire  chronologique  d’epigraphie  arabe, 
XIV  (Cairo  1954),  no-  54°°-  The  Sham'a  mosque  at  Gaza  also  bears  an  in¬ 
scription  of  his  dated  714  (1315);  ibid.  no.  5339. 

16  Al-Khalil  is  Hebron,  and  takes  its  Arabic  name  from  the  epithet  of 
Abraham,  i.e.  the  ‘Friend  of  God’. 

17  The  mosque  at  Hebron  is  a  crusaders’  church  built  on  much  older  (possibly 
pre-Roman)  foundations,  some  of  whose  stones  fully  bear  out  Ibn  Battuta’s 
statement.  The  cave  is  now  blocked  up,  but  cenotaphs  of  the  Patriarchs  and 

73 


SYRIA 


be  on  him)  commanded  the  jinn  to  build  it.18  In  the  interior 
of  the  mosque  is  the  honourable  and  sanctified  cave  con¬ 
taining  the  tomb  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob — God’s 
blessings  upon  our  Prophet  and  on  them — and  facing  them 
are  three  [other]  tombs,  which  are  those  of  their  wives.  To 
the  right  of  the  mimbar  and  adjoining  the  wall  containing  the 
qibla 19  is  a  place  from  which  one  descends  by  marble  steps  of 
solid  construction  into  a  narrow  passage  which  leads  to  a 
marble-paved  hall,  containing  cenotaphs  of  the  three  tombs, 
and  one  is  told  that  these  are  exactly  opposite  the  real  tombs 
[beneath].  There  used  formerly  to  be  in  the  same  place  a 
passage-way  into  the  blessed  cave,  but  it  is  now  blocked  up.  I 
have  gone  down  into  this  place  several  times. 

Amongst  the  evidences  related  by  the  learned  as  proof  of 
the  fact  that  the  three  holy  tombs  are  indeed  there  is  [the 
following  Tradition]  which  I  have  taken  from  the  book  of 
‘All  b.  JaTar  al-RazI  entitled  Al-Musfir  lil-Qulub  ‘an  sihhat 
qabr  ‘Ibrahim  wa  ‘Ishaq  wa-Y a  qub  [that  is  to  say,  ‘The  un- 
veiler  to  the  hearts  of  the  genuineness  of  the  tomb  of 
Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob’].20  He  traces  back  this  tradition  | 
n6  to  Abu  Huraira,  whose  actual  words  are  as  follows.  The 
Apostle  of  God  (God’s  blessing  and  peace  upon  him)  said: 
‘When  I  was  transported  on  my  night- journey  to  Jerusalem, 
Gabriel  made  me  to  pass  by  the  tomb  of  Abraham  and  said, 
“Descend,  and  make  a  prayer  of  two  prostrations,  for  this  is 
the  tomb  of  thy  father  Abraham’’.  Then  he  made  me  to 
pass  by  Bethlehem  and  said,  “Descend,  and  make  a  prayer  of 
two  prostrations,  for  here  was  born  thy  brother  Jesus  (peace 
be  upon  him)’’.  Thereafter,  he  brought  me  to  the  Rock’,  and 


their  wives  still  stand  in  small  chapels  on  either  side  of  the  nave.  The  three 
tombs  were  opened  by  the  crusaders  in  1119  ( Damascus  Chronicle  of  the 
Crusades,  161;  Rec.  hist,  des  croisades,  occidentaux,  V,  302-14).  For  other 
Muslim  descriptions  of  the  sanctuary  see  G.  Le  Strange,  Palestine  under  the 
Moslems  (London,  1890),  309-24,  with  a  plan. 

18  The  jinn  (genii)  are  a  sub-celestial  category  of  creatures  akin  to  man, 
but  created  of  fire,  who  are  credited  with  superhuman  powers.  According  to 
the  Qur'an  they  were  made  subject  to  Solomon,  and  ‘made  for  him  whatso¬ 
ever  he  pleased,  of  lofty  halls,  and  images,  and  dishes  like  tanks,  and  great 
cooking-vessels’ . 

19  The  qibla  is  the  niche  in  the  main  hall  of  a  mosque  which  indicates  the 
direction  of  Mecca,  towards  which  worshippers  face  in  prayer. 

20  The  author  and  the  work  have  not  been  traced. 

74 


HEBRON 


so  on  to  the  end  of  the  Tradition.21  When  I  met,  [during  my 
stay]  in  this  town,  the  pious  and  aged  professor,  as  well  as 
imam  and  preacher,  Burhan  al-Din  al-Ja‘bari,22  one  of  those 
saintly  men  who  enjoy  the  favour  of  God,  and  of  the  foremost 
authorities  [in  the  religious  sciences],  I  questioned  him  as  to 
the  truth  of  al-Khalil’s  grave  (on  him  be  peace)  being  there. 

He  replied  to  me,  ‘All  the  scholars  whom  I  have  met  accept  as 
a  certainty  that  these  graves  are  the  very  graves  of  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob  (upon  our  Prophet  and  them  be  peace),  and 
the  graves  of  |  their  wives.  No  one  raises  objections  to  this  117 
but  followers  of  false  doctrines;  it  is  a  tradition  which  has 
passed  from  father  to  son  for  generations  and  admits  of  no 
doubt/  It  is  also  related  that  a  certain  imam  went  into  this 
cave  and  as  he  stood  by  the  tomb  of  Sarah  an  old  man  came 
in  and  said  to  him  ‘Which  of  these  graves  is  the  grave  of 
Abraham?’  The  imam  pointed  to  Abraham’s  grave,  [I  mean] 
the  one  which  is  known  as  his.  Afterwards  there  entered  in 
succession  a  young  man,  who  asked  him  the  same  question 
and  to  whom  he  pointed  it  out,  and  a  boy,  who  likewise  asked 
him  and  received  the  same  indication.  The  faqih  then  said  ‘I 
attest  that  this  is  the  tomb  of  Abraham  (on  him  be  peace) 
without  any  doubt’,  whereupon  he  entered  the  mosque, 
prayed  in  it,  and  departed  on  the  following  day. 

Inside  this  mosque  [there  is  shown]  also  the  grave  of 
Joseph  (on  him  be  peace),23  and  eastward  of  the  sanctuary  of 
al-Khalil  is  the  turbo,  [funerary  chapel]  of  Lot  (on  him  be 
peace).24  This  is  situated  upon  a  high  mound,  from  which  one 
overlooks  |  the  Ghawr  of  Syria.25  Over  his  grave  is  aline  build-  u8 
ing,  the  grave  itself  being  in  a  well-built  and  whitewashed 

21  On  the  isra,  or  night-journey  of  Muhammad,  see  p.  77,  n.  32  below. 
The  visit  to  Hebron  and  Bethlehem  on  the  way  is  apparently  not  found  in 
the  early  versions  of  the  tradition.  Abu  Huraira,  upon  whose  authority  the 
tradition  confessedly  rests,  was  a  Badawi  follower  of  Muhammad  during  his 
last  years,  and  an  inexhaustible  source  of  doubtful  traditions,  many  of 
which  have  certainly  been  fathered  on  him. 

22  Burhan  al-Din  Ibrahim  b.  ‘Umar  al-Ja‘bari  ( c .  1245-1332)  ( Durar ,  I, 

50-1). 

23  The  putative  tomb  of  J  oseph  is  now  shown  in  a  separate  exterior  chapel 
(see  Le  Strange,  Palestine,  325-6),  the  better-known  tomb  being  at  the  vill¬ 
age  of  Balata  (Sychem),  close  to  ‘Jacob’s  Well’,  south  of  Nablus. 

24  Lot’s  tomb  is  at  a  distance  of  three  miles  to  the  east,  at  the  village  of 
BeniNayim  (Na'im). 

25  The  Ghawr  is  the  ‘sunken  land’,  i.e.  the  rift  valley. 

75 


SYRIA 


chamber  within,  and  there  are  no  hangings  over  it.  There  too 
is  the  lake  of  Lot,  which  is  salt,  bitter  water;  it  is  said  that  it 
covers  the  site  of  the  dwellings  of  The  men  of  Lot’.26 

In  the  vicinity  of  the  turba  of  Lot  is  the  Mosque  al-Yaqln,27 
which  is  situated  upon  a  high  hill  and  has  a  brightness  and  a 
glow  which  no  other  mosque  possesses.  There  are  no  buildings 
near  it  except  a  single  house,  inhabited  by  its  keeper.  In  this 
mosque,  close  by  the  door,  there  is  a  spot  sunk  in  solid  rock, 
in  which  there  has  been  formed  the  figure  of  a  mihrab ,28  only 
large  enough  to  accommodate  a  single  worshipper.  It  is  said 
that  Abraham  prostrated  himself  in  this  spot  in  gratitude  to 
God  Most  High  on  the  destruction  of  the  men  of  Lot,  and  the 
place  where  he  prostrated  himself  moved  and  sank  down  a 
little  way  into  the  ground. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  this  mosque  is  a  cave  containing 
ii9  the  tomb  of  |  Fatima,  daughter  of  al-Husain  b.  ‘All  (upon 
them  both  be  peace).  At  the  head  and  foot  of  the  grave  are 
two  slabs  of  marble,  on  one  of  which  is  written,  engraved  in  a 
beautiful  script:  Tn  the  Name  of  God,  the  Merciful,  the  Com¬ 
passionate.  To  God  is  the  Might  and  the  Permanence,  and  to 
Him  belongeth  what  He  hath  created  and  fashioned.  Upon 
His  creatures  hath  He  decreed  dissolution,  and  in  the  Apostle 
of  God  is  an  example  [for  mankind].  This  is  the  tomb  of  Umm 
Salama  Fatima  daughter  of  al-Husain  (God  be  pleased  with 
him)’.29  On  the  other  slab  is  engraved:  ‘Executed  by  Muham¬ 
mad  b.  Abu  Sahl  the  engraver  at  Cairo’;  and  underneath  this 
are  these  verses: 

One  whose  dear  dwelling  was  my  breast, 

Here,  in  the  chill  embrace  of  earth  and  stone, 

Hast  thou,  my  plaint  unheeding,  laid  to  rest. 

26  The  reference  is,  of  course  to  the  cities  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  the 
‘men  of  Lot’  implying  in  Arabic  usage  ‘the  men  referred  to  in  the  story  of 
Lot’. 

27  The  ‘Mosque  of  Conviction’  is  to  the  south  of  Beni  Nayim.  It  was  built 
in  963  on  an  existing  pre-Islamic  site,  and  received  its  name  from  the  legend 
that  Abraham,  on  seeing  the  destruction  of  the  cities,  exclaimed  ‘I  bear 
witness,  for  the  Word  of  the  Lord  is  the  Truth’  (al-Yaqln) .  See  Z.  Vilnay, 
Legends  of  Palestine  (Philadelphia,  1932),  197-8. 

28  The  ornamental  niche  which  marks  the  qibla  (see  n.  19  above). 

29  For  al-Husain  b.  ‘All  see  p.  46,  n.  140.  Fatima  was  noted  as  a  tradi- 
tionist  and  died  about  728.  The  authorship  of  the  lines  is  a  problem,  since 
she  was  predeceased  by  both  of  her  husbands. 

76 


JERUSALEM 

O  grave  of  Fatima,  daughter  of  Fatima’s  son, 

Born  of  the  shining  stars  of  ‘All’s  race, 

0  grave,  what  godly  faith  is  now  thine  own, 

What  virtue,  purity,  and  modest  grace !  | 

I  continued  my  journey  thereafter  from  this  town  to  al- 
Quds  [Jerusalem].  On  my  way  there  I  visited  the  tomb  of 
Yunus  [Jonah] — on  him  be  peace — over  which  there  is  a 
great  building  and  a  mosque.30  I  visited  also  Bait  Lahm 
[Bethlehem],  the  birthplace  of  Jesus — on  him  be  peace — 
where  the  trace  of  the  palm  trunk  [is  still  to  be  seen]  sur¬ 
mounted  by  a  vast  edifice.31  The  Christians  regard  it  with 
intense  veneration  and  hospitably  entertain  all  who  alight 
at  it. 

We  then  arrived  at  Bait  al-Muqaddas  (Jerusalem) — God 
ennoble  it — third  in  excellence  after  the  two  sacred  Mosques 
[of  Mecca  and  al-Madlna],  and  the  place  of  ascension  of  the 
Apostle  of  God — God  bless  him  and  give  him  peace — whence 
he  was  caught  up  into  heaven.32  The  town  is  large  and  im¬ 
posing,  and  built  of  squared  stones.  The  pious  and  noble  king 
Salah  al-Dln  b.  Aiyub  (God  reward  him  with  good  on  behalf 
of  Islam)  when  he  captured  this  city,  destroyed  a  part  of  its 
wall,  and  subsequently  al-Malik  al-Zahir  [Baibars]  completed  | 
its  demolition,  for  fear  lest  the  Christians  of  the  East  should 
occupy  it  and  resist  all  assaults  in  it.33  There  was  no  water- 

30  The  mosque  of  the  Arab  village  of  Halhul,  to  the  north  of  Hebron;  the 
tomb  was  formerly  attributed  to  Gad,  the  more  famous  tomb  of  Jonah  being 
at  Nebi  Yunus,  on  the  ruins  of  Nineveh,  east  of  Mosul. 

31  In  the  Qur’anic  version  of  the  birth  of  Jesus  'the  pains  of  travail  caused 
her  [Mary]  to  grasp  the  trunk  of  the  palm-tree’  (Sura  xix,  23);  cf.  T.  W. 
Arnold,  Painting  in  Islam,  100  and  plate  xv.  The  ‘trace’  is  presumably  the 
star-shaped  mark  still  shown  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Nativity.  The  large  build¬ 
ing  mentioned  in  the  following  sentence  is  the  Church  of  the  Nativity,  as 
restored  by  the  Byzantine  emperor  Manuel  Comnenus  in  1169. 

32  This  reference  is  to  the  miraculous  ‘night  journey’  ( isra )  of  Muhammad 
in  which  he  was  transported  to  ‘the  farthest  mosque’  ( al-Masjid  al-aqsd), 
traditionally  identified  with  Jerusalem  (see  also  p.  75,  n.  21  above).  The 
isra  was  followed  by  an  ‘ascension’  ( mi‘rdj )  when  Muhammad,  mounting 
on  the  celestial  steed  Buraq,  was  accorded  a  vision  of  Heaven;  see  p.  49, 
n.  150. 

33  These  facts,  doubtless  gathered  by  Ibn  Battuta  from  oral  tradition,  seem 
to  be  quite  inaccurate.  There  is  no  record  of  any  destruction  of  the  wall  by 
Saladin  (except  in  the  course  of  the  siege  in  1187),  and  it  was  dismantled 
in  1219,  during  the  ‘Fifth  Crusade’,  by  order  of  al-Malik  al-Mu‘azzam  ‘Isa, 
prince  of  Damascus,  Saladin’s  nephew.  The  present  walls  were  built  by  the 
Ottoman  Sultan  Sulaiman  ‘the  Magnificent’  (1520-66). 

77 


120 


121 


SYRIA 


course  in  this  city  in  former  times,  and  the  water  has  been  led 
into  it  in  our  own  time  by  the  amir  Saif  al-Din  Tanklz,  the 
governor  of  Damascus.34 

The  Sacred  Mosque.  This  is  one  of  those  surpassingly 
beautiful  mosques  which  excite  wonder  and  admiration.  It  is 
said  that  there  is  not  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  a  mosque 
larger  than  it.  Its  length  from  east  to  west  is  seven  hundred 
and  fifty-two  cubits,  measuring  in  royal  cubits,  and  its 
breadth  from  south  to  north  four  hundred  and  thirty-five 
cubits.35  It  has  many  entrances  on  its  three  [outer]  sides,  but 
as  for  the  southern  side  of  it,  I  have  no  knowledge  of  more 
than  one  gateway  in  it,  and  that  is  the  one  from  which  the 
imam  enters.36  The  entire  mosque  is  an  open  court,  unroofed 
122  except  for  the  mosque  |  al-Aqsa;  this  has  a  roof  of  the  utmost 
perfection  of  architecture  and  skill  in  execution,  and  is 
embellished  with  gold  and  brilliant  colours.37  There  are  other 
places  as  well  in  the  mosque  which  are  roofed  over. 

The  Dome  of  the  Rock.  This  is  one  of  the  most  marvellous 
of  buildings,  of  the  most  perfect  in  architecture  and  strangest 
in  shape;  it  has  been  endowed  with  a  plentiful  share  of  loveli¬ 
ness,  and  has  received  a  choice  portion  of  every  rare  beauty. 
It  stands  on  an  elevation  in  the  centre  of  the  mosque  and  is 
reached  by  ascending  a  flight  of  marble  steps.  It  has  four 
doors.  The  court  around  it  is  also  paved  with  marble,  of 
excellent  workmanship,  and  its  interior  likewise.  Both  on  its 
exterior  and  inside  it  is  adorned  with  such  a  variety  of 
decorations  and  such  brilliance  of  execution  as  to  defy  descrip- 


34  Saif  al-Din  Abu  Sa'id  Tanklz,  governor  of  Damascus  from  1312  and 
governor-general  of  Syria  from  1315  until  June  1340,  the  greatest  of  the 
mamluks  of  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  and  a  man  of  the  highest  probity  and  adminis¬ 
trative  capacity,  died  in  July  1340,  a  month  after  his  dismissal  from  office 
(. Durar ,  I,  520-8;  Manhal,  1 14-15). 

35  The  site  of  the  Haram  al-Sharif  or  temple  area  is  in  fact  an  irregular 
quadrangle  (west  side  536  yd.,  east  side  518  yd.,  north  side  351  yd.,  south 
side  310  yd.).  As  the  royal  cubit  measured  about  26  in.,  the  figures  given 
above  (E.-W.  543  yd.,  N.-S.  314  yd.)  agree  almost  exactly  with  the  west  and 
south  sides. 

36  Probably  the  ‘double  gate’,  the  passage-way  leading  to  which  still  runs 
underneath  the  Jami‘  al-Aqsa,  though  the  gate  itself  is  now  closed  up. 

37  The  mosque,  or  more  properly  the  Jami‘,  al-Aqsa  attached  to  the  central 
part  of  the  southern  wall,  is  a  composite  building,  the  high  Byzantine  nave 
(seventh  century)  and  semi-Gothic  sevenfold  porch  (built  in  1227)  of  which 
may  be  seen  prominently  in  any  photograph  of  the  temple  area. 

78 


JERUSALEM 

tion.  The  greater  part  of  this  decoration  is  surfaced  with  gold, 
so  that  it  glows  like  a  mass  of  light  and  flashes  with  the  gleam 
of  lightning;  the  eyes  of  him  who  would  gaze  on  its  splendours 
are  dazzled  |  and  the  tongue  of  the  beholder  finds  no  words  to  123 
represent  them.  In  the  centre  of  the  Dome  is  the  blessed  Rock 
of  which  mention  is  made  in  the  Traditions,  for  the  Prophet 
(God  bless  him  and  give  him  peace)  ascended  from  it  to 
heaven.  It  is  a  solid  piece  of  rock,  projecting  about  a  man’s 
height,  and  underneath  it  there  is  a  cave  the  size  of  a  small 
room  and  of  about  a  man’s  height  also,  with  steps  leading 
down  to  it;  in  this  there  is  the  figure  of  a  mihrab.  Encircling 
the  Rock  are  two  grilles  of  excellent  workmanship,  com¬ 
pletely  enclosing  it,  one  of  them,  that  which  is  next  to  the 
Rock,  being  artistically  constructed  in  iron,  and  the  other  of 
wood.38  Within  the  Dome  there  is  also  a  great  iron  buckler, 
which  is  hanging  up  there,  and  the  people  assert  that  it  is  the 
buckler  of  Hamza  b.  ‘Abd  al-Muttalib  (God  be  pleased  with 
him).39 

Some  of  the  gracious  sanctuaries  in  the  Holy  City  of  Jerusa¬ 
lem.  Among  these  there  is,  on  the  farther  side  |  of  the  valley  124 
called  the  Valley  of  Jahannam,  to  the  east  of  the  town,  and 
on  a  lofty  hill  there,  a  building  which  is  said  to  mark  the 
place  whence  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace)  ascended  to  heaven.40 
Among  these  there  is  also  the  grave  of  Rabba  al-Badawiya, 
who  derives  her  designation  from  the  badiya  or  desert,  and  is 
a  different  person  from  the  famous  Rabba  al-'AdawIya.41  In 
the  hollow  of  the  valley  already  mentioned  is  a  church 
venerated  by  the  Christians,  who  say  that  it  contains  the 
grave  of  Mary  (peace  be  upon  her).42  At  Jerusalem  also  there 
is  another  venerated  church  to  which  the  Christians  come  on 

38  The  iron  grille  was  constructed  during  the  Crusaders’  occupation  of 
Jerusalem  in  the  twelfth  century. 

39  An  uncle  of  Muhammad,  killed  by  the  Meccan  forces  at  the  Battle  of 
Uhud  in  625;  see  p.  181,  n.  99. 

40  The  Mosque  of  the  Ascension,  on  the  brow  of  the  Mount  of  Olives,  on  the 
farther  side  of  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat,  here  confused  with  the  valley  of 
Hinnom  (Gehenna). 

41  Rabi'a  (commonly  called  ‘of  Jerusalem’)  was  the  wife  of  a  noted  sufi, 
Ibn  Abi'l-Hawwarl  (d.  860).  Rabi'a  al-‘Adawiya  was  a  famous  woman  saint 
who  lived  and  died  at  Basra  in  801,  but  who  is  sometimes  said  (owing  to  the 
confusion  referred  to  here  by  Ibn  Battuta)  to  have  been  buried  in  Jerusalem. 

42  St.  Mary’s  Church,  on  the  farther  side  of  the  Kidron,  which  has  given 
its  Arabic  name  Wadi  Sitti  Maryam,  to  the  Kidron  valley. 

79 


G 


T.O.I.B. 


SYRIA 


pilgrimage.  This  is  the  church  about  which  they  lie  and  are 
persuaded  that  it  contains  the  grave  of  Jesus  (on  him  be 
peace).43  All  who  come  on  pilgrimage  to  it  are  liable  to  a 
stipulated  tax  to  the  Muslims  and  various  humiliations, 
which  they  suffer  very  unwillingly.  There  too  is  the  place  of 
the  cradle  of  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  which  is  visited  in 
order  to  obtain  blessing.44  | 

125  Some  of  the  eminent  scholars  of  Jerusalem.  Among  these  are 
[the  following]:  its  qadl,  the  learned  Shams  al-Din  Muham¬ 
mad  b.  Salim  al-Ghazzi,  who  comes  of  a  family  of  Ghazza 
[Gaza],  the  notables  of  that  town;45  its  preacher,  the  pious 
and  worthy  Tmad  al-Din  of  Nabulus;  the  authority  on  the 
Traditions  and  mufti  Shihab  al-Din  al-Tabari;  the  professor 
of  the  Malikites  and  superior  of  the  noble  religious  houses, 
Abu  ‘Abdallah  Muhammad  b.  Muthbit  of  Granada,  but  now 
settled  in  Jerusalem;  the  ascetic  shaikh  Abu  ‘All  Hasan, 
known  as  The  blind',  one  of  the  leading  devotees;  the  pious 
and  devout  shaikh  Kamal  al-Din  al-Maraghi;  the  pious  and 
devout  shaikh  Abu ‘Abd  al-RahinTAbd  al-Rahmanb.  Mustafa, 
belonging  to  a  family  of  Arz  al-Rum  [Erzerum],  and  one  of 

126  the  disciples  |  of  Taj  al-Din  al-Rifa‘1.46  I  associated  myself 
with  this  shaikh,  and  was  clothed  by  his  hands  in  the 
patched  robe  of  the  Sufi  life.47 

I  then  set  out  from  Jerusalem  the  Holy  to  visit  the  frontier 

43  The  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  called  in  Arabic  al-Qumama.  The 
Muslim  doctrine  of  Jesus  asserts,  on  the  basis  of  Qur’an,  iii,  55,  that  he  was 
not  crucified,  another  figure  being  substituted  for  him.  The  words yakdhibuna 
‘alaihi  ‘they  lie  concerning  it’  are  perhaps  to  be  read  yukdhabuna  ‘alaihi 
‘concerning  which  they  are  deceived’. 

44  Apparently  a  confusion  either  with  the  shrine  of  the  Manger  in  the 
Church  of  the  Nativity  at  Bethlehem,  or  possibly  with  the  Church  of  St. 
Anne,  the  traditional  birthplace  of  Mary. 

45  See  p.  73  above.  Shams  al-Din  d.  after  1350  ( Durar ,  III,  442). 

46  The  founder  of  the  Rifa‘1  congregation  of  sufis:  see  p.  140,  n.  277. 

47  The  ‘ragged’  or  ‘patched’  robe  ( khirqa )  was  adopted  by  the  adepts  of 
the  mystical  orders  as  an  outward  sign  of  worldly  renunciation,  and  the 
ceremony  of  investiture,  when  the  novice  received  it  from  the  hands  of  his 
shaikh,  naturally  acquired  special  significance.  It  is  obvious,  however,  that 
Ibn  Battuta  cannot  have  gone  through  the  long  and  arduous  course  of 
training  usually  required  of  the  novice,  and  we  must  apparently  regard  this 
as  an  instance  of  the  second  or  inferior  grade  of  investiture,  the  khirqat 
al-tabarruk  or  ‘robe  of  benediction’,  which  ‘is  given  ex  officio  by  the  Shaikh 
to  persons  whom  he  thinks  it  would  be  useful  to  cause  to  enter  upon  the 
mystic  path,  without  their  fully  realizing  the  significance  of  the  investiture’ 
(Cl.  Huart,  E.I.,  s.v.  Khirka). 


80 


ASCALON 


fortress  of  ‘Asqalan  [Ascalon].  It  is  lying  in  ruins,  and  has 
become  no  more  than  shapeless  remains  and  mouldering 
walls.48  Yet  seldom  has  one  town  united  so  many  advantages 
as  were  united  in  ‘Asqalan — solidity,  fine  situation,  natural 
strength  of  position,  and  combination  of  the  resources  of  both 
land  and  sea.  In  it  is  the  famous  sanctuary  where  reposed  the 
head  of  al-Husain  b.  'All  (peace  be  upon  him)  before  it  was 
removed  to  Cairo.49  This  is  a  vast  and  lofty  mosque,  within 
which  there  is  a  well  for  water;  it  was  constructed  by  order  of 
one  of  the  ‘Ubaidi  kings,50  and  there  is  an  inscription  to  that 
effect  over  its  gateway.  To  the  south  of  this  shrine  is  a  large 
mosque,  known  as  the  mosque  of  ‘Omar,  of  which  nothing 
remains  but  its  walls.  Within  it  are  some  marble  columns  of 
matchless  beauty,  partly  standing  and  partly  fallen.  Amongst 
these  |  there  is  a  wonderful  red  column,  of  which  the  people 
tell  that  the  Christians  carried  it  off  to  their  country  but 
afterwards  found  it  gone,  and  it  was  back  again  in  its  place  at 
‘Asqalan.51  To  the  south  of  this  mosque,  again,  is  a  well 
known  as  Abraham’s  Well  (on  him  be  peace).  One  goes  down 
to  it  by  a  broad  flight  of  steps,  which  give  entry  to  a  number 
of  chambers,  in  each  of  whose  four  sides  there  is  a  spring.  The 
water  comes  out  of  stone-lined  conduits  and  is  sweet,  but  not 
plentiful.52  The  people  [there]  have  many  tales  of  its  peculiar 
merits.  In  the  outskirts  of  ‘Asqalan  there  is  a  ‘Valley  of  Ants’, 
which  is  said  to  be  the  one  mentioned  in  the  Holy  Book.53 

48  At  this  point  apparently  begin  the  divagations  of  Ibn  Battuta’s  narrative. 
Since  he  left  Cairo  about  17  July  and  arrived  at  Damascus  on  7  August,  it  is 
clear  that  he  must  on  this  occasion  have  taken  almost  a  direct  route  to 
Damascus,  and  that  his  visits  to  other  towns  in  Palestine  and  Syria  which 
lay  off  the  direct  route  took  place  in  later  years,  probably  in  1330  (see  p.  100, 
n.  129).  Ascalon  was  dismantled  by  Saladin  during  his  struggle  with  Richard 
Coeur-de-Lion  in  1 191,  and  was  finally  destroyed  by  Sultan  Baibars  in  1270. 

49  See  p.  46,  n.  140.  An  inscription  recording  the  discovery  of  the  head  at 
Ascalon  and  the  construction  of  the  sanctuary  in  1091  is  preserved  on  the 
pulpit  now  at  Hebron:  Rep.  chron.  d' epigraphie  arabe,  VII,  261-3. 

60  The  Fatimid  caliph  al-Mustansir  (1035-94).  As  a  Sunni,  rejecting  the 
alleged  descent  of  the  Fatimids  from  Muhammad,  Ibn  Battuta  calls  them 
the  ‘Ubaidids,  i.e.  descendants  of  ‘Ubaidallah,  who  founded  the  dynasty  in 
Tunisia  in  908. 

61  I  have  found  no  other  reference  to  the  localization  at  Ascalon  of  this 
widely  spread  popular  legend. 

62  For  the  cisterns  and  wells  at  Ascalon  see  ZDPV ,  II  (1879),  164  ff. 

53 The  reference  is  to  the  Qur’an,  Sura  xxvii,  18,  which  relates  the  passage 
of  Solomon  with  his  armies  through  the  Valley  of  the  Ants.  The  site  lies 
between  Bait  Jibrin  and  Ascalon. 

8l 


127 


SYRIA 


The  cemetery  of  ‘Asqalan  contains  such  a  number  of  graves 
of  martyrs  and  saints  as  is  beyond  reckoning.  They  were 
shown  to  us  by  the  keeper  of  the  shrine  [of  Husain]  mentioned 
above,  who  enjoys  a  stipend  assigned  to  him  by  the  king  of 

128  Egypt  |  in  addition  to  what  he  receives  in  alms  from  visitors. 

I  travelled  from  there  to  the  town  of  al-Ramla,  which  is 
the  same  as  Filastln,  a  large  town,  well  stocked  with  good 
things,  and  with  fine  bazaars.  Here  is  the  [famous]  ‘White 
Mosque',  and  it  is  said  that  on  its  southern  side  three  hundred 
of  the  prophets  lie  buried  (on  them  be  peace).54  Living  there 
is  a  notable  jurist,  Majd  al-Dln  al-NabulusI. 

Leaving  there,  I  came  next  to  the  town  of  Nabulus,  which 
is  a  large  town  with  an  abundance  of  trees  and  perennial 
streams,  one  of  the  richest  places  in  Syria  for  olives,  and  from 
which  olive  oil  is  exported  to  Egypt  and  Damascus.55  At 
Nabulus  there  is  manufactured  also  the  carob-sweet,  and  it 
too  is  carried  to  Damascus  and  elsewhere.  The  method  of 
making  it  is  as  follows.  The  carobs  are  cooked  and  then 
pressed,  the  juice  that  runs  out  of  them  is  gathered  and  the 
sweet  is  manufactured  from  it.  The  juice  itself  is  also  exported 
to  Egypt  and  other  parts  of  Syria.  Here  too  grow  the  melons  | 

129  which  are  called  by  its  name  [‘Nabulus!'];  they  are  sweet  and 
delicious.  The  congregational  mosque  of  the  town  is  of 
extreme  architectural  skill  and  beauty,  and  in  the  centre  of  it 
is  a  basin  of  sweet  water. 

From  there  I  went  on  to  the  town  of  ‘Ajlun,  which  is  a  fine 
town,  possessing  a  large  number  of  bazaars  and  an  imposing 
castle,  and  traversed  by  a  river  with  sweet  water.56  Then  I 
went  on  from  there  in  the  direction  of  al-Ladhiq!ya,  and 
passed  through  the  Ghawr,  which  is  a  valley  between  ranges 
of  uplands.  In  it  is  the  grave  of  Abu  ‘Ubaida  ibn  al-Jarrah, 
the  patron  of  this  people  (God  be  pleased  with  him).57  We 

54  Ramla  was  founded  by  the  Arabs  in  716.  The  White  Mosque  is  now  in 
ruins  except  for  the  tall  minaret,  built  or  rebuilt  by  order  of  al-Malik 
al-Nasir  in  1318. 

55  Nabulus,  the  ancient  Shechem,  has  remained  into  modern  times  famous 
for  its  soap-making  industry. 

66  On  Ajlun,  thirteen  miles  north  of  Jerash,  see  W.  M.  Thomson,  The  Land 
and  the  Book,  II  (London,  1883),  578-80.  The  citadel,  called  Qal'at  al-Rabad, 
was  built  by  Saladin’s  governor  Tzz  al-Dln  Usama  in  1184. 

67  One  of  the  closest  of  Muhammad's  ‘Companions’,  and  subsequently 
commander  in  chief  of  the  Arab  armies  in  Syria,  where  he  died  during  the 

82 


ASCALON  TO  TYRE 

visited  the  tomb;  beside  it  there  is  a  religious  house  at  which 
food  is  supplied  to  all  wayfarers,  and  we  spent  a  night  there. 
After  that  we  went  on  to  al-Qusair,  where  the  tomb  of 
Mu'adh  b.  Jabal  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  is  situated,58 
and  I  gained  the  blessing  of  a  visit  to  it  also.  I  then  jour¬ 
neyed  along  the  coast  to  the  town  of  ‘Akka  [Acre],  which  is 
lying  in  ruins.  ‘Akka  was  formerly  the  capital  of  the  lands 
of  the  Franks  in  Syria  |  and  the  harbour  for  their  vessels, 
resembling  the  great  city  of  Constantinople.  To  the  east  of 
it  is  a  spring  of  water  known  as  the  Fountain  of  the  Oxen;  it 
is  said  that  God  Most  High  made  the  bull  to  come  forth 
from  it  for  Adam  (on  him  be  peace).  One  descends  to  it  by  a 
flight  of  steps,  and  over  it  there  was  formerly  a  mosque,  of 
which  only  the  mihrab  now  remains.59  In  this  town  too  is  the 
tomb  of  Salih  (on  him  be  peace).60 

From  there  I  went  on  next  to  the  town  of  Sur  [Tyre],  which 
is  in  ruins,61  but  outside  it  there  is  an  inhabited  village,  most 
of  whose  population  are  Rafidis.62  I  stopped  there  at  a  place 
with  some  water,  to  make  the  ritual  ablutions,  and  one  of  the 
men  of  this  village  also  came  up  to  make  his  ablutions.  Well, 
he  began  by  washing  his  feet,  then  he  washed  his  face,  without 
rinsing  out  his  mouth  or  snuffing  water  up  his  nostrils,  and 

great  plague  of  639.  The  phrase  ‘patron  of  his  people’  (i.e.  of  the  Syrians)  is 
derived  from  a  Tradition  attributed  to  Muhammad:  ‘My  Companions  are 
patrons  (or  guardians)  to  my  people.’  Yaqut  locates  the  tomb  at  ‘Amta, 
twelve  farsakhs  from  Tiberias. 

58  Mu'adh  b.  Jabal  was  a  young  Madinian  Companion  of  the  Prophet  who 
was  sent  by  Muhammad  as  a  missionary  to  the  Yemen  in  631  and  died  of 
plague  in  Syria  in  640.  Yaqut  mentions  a  village  called  Qusair  Mu'in 
al-Dln  in  the  Ghawr. 

69  Acre  was  destroyed  on  its  recapture  from  the  Crusaders  by  the  Mamluk 
sultan  al-Ashraf  Khalil  in  1291,  and  its  place  as  chief  town  of  the  region  was 
taken  by  Safad.  The  passage  on  the  Fountain  of  the  Oxen  is  taken  from  the 
travels  of  Ibn  Jubair  (tr.  Broadhurst,  318).  The  sending  of  the  red  bull  to 
Adam  to  enable  him  to  till  the  ground  is  a  Jewish  legend  taken  over  into 
Islam.  The  site  is  now  known  as  ‘Ain  as-Sitt,  ‘the  Lady’s  Fountain’. 

60  Salih  is  mentioned  frequently  in  the  Qur’an,  as  the  prophet  sent  to  the 
tribe  of  Thamud,  in  the  northern  Hijaz,  the  site  of  whose  burial  grounds  is 
still  called  Mada’in  Salih.  How  this  tomb  came  to  be  located  in  Acre  seems 
to  be  unknown. 

61  Tyre  was  destroyed  at  the  same  time  as  Acre. 

62  The  mountainous  hinterland  of  Tyre,  the  Jabal  ‘Amila,  was  from  early 
times  a  centre  of  Shi'ism,  Rafidl  being  a  Sunni  term  of  opprobrium  for  Shi‘1. 
The  Sunni  order  for  ablution  is  face,  hands,  feet,  and  observance  of  the 
correct  order  is  part  of  the  ritual,  hence  Ibn  Battuta’s  scandalized  remark. 

83 


130 


SYRIA 


ended  by  wiping  his  hand  over  a  part  of  his  head.  I  reproved 
him  for  doing  this,  but  he  said  to  me,  ‘In  building,  the  place 
to  begin  is  at  the  foundation’.  It  is  this  city  of  Sur  which 
has  become  proverbial  for  strength  of  fortification  and 

131  inaccessibility,  because  |  the  sea  surrounds  it  on  three  of  its 
sides,  and  it  has  two  gates,  one  on  the  landward  side  and  one 
on  the  sea.  That  gate  which  gives  access  to  the  land  has  four 
covered  passages,  each  with  parapets,  protecting  it,  and  that 
which  opens  to  the  sea  stands  between  two  great  towers.  For 
sheer  masonry  there  is  no  more  marvellous  or  more  remark¬ 
able  construction  in  any  town  in  the  world;  for  the  sea  sur¬ 
rounds  it  on  three  sides  and  on  the  fourth  side  is  a  wall  under¬ 
neath  which  ships  may  enter  and  come  to  anchor.  In  former 
times  there  was  an  iron  chain  between  the  two  towers  as  a 
barrier,  [so  that]  there  was  no  way  in  at  that  point,  nor  way 
out,  until  it  had  been  lowered.  It  was  under  the  charge  of 
guards  and  inspectors,  and  none  might  enter  or  leave  but 
with  their  knowledge.  ‘Akka  also  had  a  harbour  like  this,  but 
it  could  hold  only  small  vessels.63 

Then  I  went  on  from  there  to  the  town  of  Saida  [Sidon], 

132  which  is  on  the  coast,  |  a  pleasant  place  and  rich  in  fruits; 
figs,  raisins  and  olive  oil  are  exported  from  it  to  the  cities  of 
Egypt.64  I  stayed  with  the  qadl  of  the  town,  Kamal  al-Din, 
of  Ashmun  in  Egypt,  a  man  of  excellent  qualities  and  of  noble 
spirit.  From  there  I  continued  my  journey  to  the  town  of 
Tabarlya  [Tiberias].  It  was  in  time  past  a  large  and  important 
city,  but  nothing  now  remains  of  that  save  vestiges  that  bear 
witness  to  its  former  greatness  and  magnificence.65  In  the 
town  there  are  wonderful  baths,  with  two  establishments,  one 
for  men  and  the  other  for  women,  and  the  water  in  them  is 
very  hot.66  Here  too  is  the  famous  lake,  the  length  of  which  is 

63  This  description  of  Tyre  is  also  taken  almost  verbally  from  Ibn  Jubair 
(tr.  Broadhurst,  319-20),  with  the  substitution  of  ‘covered  passage’  for 
‘gates’  in  Ibn  Jubair,  and  a  misunderstanding  of  the  site  of  the  harbour. 

64  Sidon  was  the  chief  port  for  Damascus  at  this  period. 

65  The  ruins  of  the  ancient  city  extend  for  over  a  mile  to  the  south  of  the 
Arab  city. 

66  The  thermal  source  of  Tiberias  (two  miles  south  of  the  town)  was  noted 
from  ancient  times  for  the  treatment  of  rheumatism  and  other  diseases;  for 
other  Muslim  descriptions  of  the  city  and  its  baths  see  Le  Strange,  Palestine, 
334-41.  An  Arab  legend  which  ascribes  their  origin  to  Solomon  is  related 
by  Vilnay,  Legends,  331-2. 


84 


TIBERIAS  AND  BAIRUT 


about  six  farsakhs  and  the  breadth  over  three  farsakhs.67  At 
Tabarlya  there  is  a  mosque  known  as  the  ‘Mosque  of  the 
Prophets',  which  contains  the  tomb  of  Shu‘aib  (peace  be 
upon  him)  and  his  daughter,  the  wife  of  Moses,  the  Speaker 
[with  God]  (peace  be  upon  him),68  as  well  as  the  tombs  of 
Sulaiman  (peace  be  upon  him),  Yahuda  and  Rubil69  (the 
blessings  and  peace  of  God  be  upon  our  Prophet  and  upon 
them  all).  We  made  an  excursion  from  Tabarlya  to  visit  the 
well  |  into  which  Joseph  (peace  be  upon  him)  was  cast.  It  is  in 
the  courtyard  of  a  small  mosque,  and  the  well  is  large  and 
deep.70  We  drank  some  water  from  it,  which  was  [really] 
collected  rain-water,  but  its  custodian  told  us  that  water 
wells  up  in  it  also. 

We  travelled  next  to  the  town  of  Bairut.  It  is  a  small  place, 
but  with  fine  bazaars,  and  its  congregational  mosque  is  of 
striking  beauty.  Fruit  and  iron  are  exported  from  there  to 
Egypt.71  We  made  an  excursion  from  Bairut  to  visit  the  tomb 
of  Abu  Ya‘qub  Yusuf,  who,  they  say,  was  one  of  the  kings  of 
the  Maghrib.  The  tomb  is  at  a  place  called  Karak  Nuh  in  the 
Biqa‘  al-‘Aziz,  and  by  it  is  a  religious  house  at  which  food  is 
provided  for  all  who  come  and  go.72  It  is  said  that  the  Sultan 

67  The  Sea  of  Galilee,  21  km.  (13  miles)  in  length  and  12  km.  (7^  miles)  at 
its  greatest  breadth. 

68  Shu'aib,  a  prophet  mentioned  in  the  Qur’an  and  later  identified  with 
Jethro,  the  father-in-law  of  Moses.  The  tradition  that  he  was  buried  at  the 
‘Horn  of  Hattln’,  west  of  Tiberias,  is  due  to  a  confusion  of  names  (see  E.I., 
s.v.).  Earlier  travellers  located  these  tombs  at  Hazlra,  near  Irbid:  see  Le 
Strange,  Palestine,  445;  also  below,  p.  143,  n.  286. 

69  Solomon’s  (putative)  tomb  is  located  by  Yaqut  on  the  east  side  of  the 
lake,  but  he  himself  rejects  the  tradition.  The  association  of  the  tombs  of 
the  patriarchs,  Judah  and  Reuben,  with  those  of  Solomon  is  mentioned  also 
by  Ibn  Jubair  (tr.  Broadhurst,  324).  Al-Harawi  mentions  the  tombs  of 
Reuben  and  Simeon  at  Kabul,  near  Nazareth,  and  subsequently  those  of 
Reuben  and  Judah  in  the  Qarafa  at  Cairo  (see  p.  45). 

70  Several  travellers  mention  ‘Joseph’s  Pit’  ( Jubb  Yusuf )  near  ‘Jacobs’ 
Bridge’,  twelve  miles  from  Tiberias  on  the  Damascus  road  (Le  Strange, 
op.  cit.  465-6);  but  others  place  it  at  Kan'an  (Shiloh),  between  Nablus  and 
Sinjil  (ibid.  477;  and  see  above,  p.  75,  n.  23). 

71  The  iron  mines  in  the  adjacent  mountains  and  the  ‘forest  of  pines’  are 
mentioned  by  Qalqashandi  (Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  La  Syrie,  74).  The 
Mosque  of  Bairut  was  the  former  Crusaders’  Church  of  St.  John. 

72  Karak  Nuh,  at  this  time  the  administrative  capital  of  the  Biqa‘  (the 
long  depression  between  the  Lebanon  and  Anti-Lebanon  ranges,  known  in 
classical  times  as  Coele-Syria),  is  a  small  village  close  to  Zahle,  which  derives 
its  name  from  its  claim  to  possess  the  tomb  of  Noah;  see  Beitrdge  zur  Kennt- 
nis  des  Orients,  XIII  (1916),  21.  The  floor  of  the  Biqa'  was  covered  by  a 

85 


133 


SYRIA 


Salah  al-dln  [Saladin]  assigned  the  religious  endowments  for 
its  upkeep,  but  some  say  it  was  the  Sultan  Nur  al-Dln,  who 
was  a  man  ofi  saintly  life  and  of  whom  it  is  told  that  he  used 
to  weave  mats  and  live  on  the  proceeds  of  their  sale.73  | 

134  The  story  of  the  above-mentioned  Abu  Ya'qub  Yusuf.  It  is 
related  that  after  coming  to  the  city  of  Damascus  he  fell  ill 
there  of  a  grievous  malady  and  remained  [for  some  time]  lying 
on  the  ground  in  the  bazaars.  When  he  recovered  from  his 
illness,  he  went  out  to  the  outskirts  of  Damascus  to  seek  some 
orchard  for  which  he  might  serve  as  keeper.  He  was  engaged 
to  keep  an  orchard  belonging  to  the  king  Nur  al-Dln  and 
continued  to  tend  it  for  six  months.  When  the  fruit  was  due  to 
ripen  the  sultan  came  to  that  garden,  and  the  superintendent 
of  the  garden  bade  Abu  Ya'qub  fetch  some  pomegranates  for 
the  sultan  to  partake  of.  He  brought  him  some  pomegranates 
accordingly,  but  the  superintendent,  finding  them  sour,  bade 
him  fetch  some  others.  He  did  so,  and  the  superintendent, 
finding  them  sour  also,  said  to  him,  'Have  you  been  looking 
after  this  orchard  for  six  months  and  cannot  tell  the  sweet 
from  the  sour?’  He  replied  ‘It  was  for  keeping  that  you  hired 

135  me,  not  for  |  eating’,  whereupon  the  superintendent  came  to 
the  king  and  told  him  the  whole  story.  The  king  sent  for  him, 
for  he  had  seen  in  a  dream  that  he  should  meet  with  Abu 
Ya'qub  and  that  some  advantage  would  accrue  to  himself 
from  him,  and  he  had  an  intuition  that  this  was  he.  So  he  said 
to  him  'You  are  Abu  Ya'qub?’  and  on  receiving  his  answer 
'Yes’  he  rose  to  welcome  him,  embraced  him,  and  bade  him 
sit  beside  him.  After  that  he  took  him  in  his  cortege  to  his  own 

lake  or  marsh  at  this  point,  until  the  governorship  of  Tankiz,  who  drained 
it,  and  there  was  a  tradition  that  the  Ark  came  to  rest  on  the  spur  of 
‘Anjar,  on  the  opposite  side  to  and  south-east  of  Zahle.  For  the  appellation 
Biqa'  al-‘AzIz  or  Biqa'  ‘Azizi,  see  R.  Hartmann  in  E.I.,  s.v.  Buk'a.  Abu 
Ya'qub  Yusuf  I  was  the  son  and  successor  of  ‘Abd  al-Mu’min,  the  political 
leader  of  the  Almohad  movement  in  Morocco,  and  reigned  from  1163  to 
1184,  but  was  mortally  wounded  at  the  siege  of  Santarem  and  died  near 
Evora  in  Portugal.  The  identity  of  the  person  mentioned  by  Ibn  Battuta  is 
unknown. 

73  Nur  al-Din,  sultan  of  Aleppo  from  1146,  of  Damascus  from  1154,  d. 
1174,  was  noted  for  his  piety  and  sobriety,  but  the  statement  made  here  by 
Ibn  Battuta  seems  to  be  apocryphal.  The  following  story  of  Abu  Ya'qub's 
integrity  as  a  gardener  is  also  related  of  Ibrahim  b.  Ad’ham  (see  p.  no, 
n.  160)  and  several  other  personages:  see  Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  La 
Syrie,  117,  n.  1. 


86 


STORY  OF  ABU  YA'QUB  YUSUF 

residence,  where  he  entertained  him  [only]  from  the  lawful 
proceeds  of  the  labour  of  his  own  hand.74  Abu  Ya'qub  stayed 
with  him  for  some  time,  but  subsequently  left  Damascus  in 
solitary  flight  during  the  season  of  severe  cold,  and  came  to 
one  of  the  villages  in  the  district.  There  was  in  this  place  a 
man  of  humble  station,  who  invited  him  to  stay  in  his  house 
and,  on  his  consenting,  prepared  soup  for  him  and  killed  a 
chicken  and  brought  it  to  him  with  barley  bread.  Having 
partaken  of  this,  Abu  Ya'qub  prayed  for  a  blessing  upon  his 
host.  Now  the  man  had  several  children,  |  one  of  them  being  i36 
a  girl  who  was  shortly  to  be  conducted  to  her  husband.  It  is 
one  of  their  customs  in  that  country  that  the  girl  receives  an 
'outfit'  from  her  father,  the  greater  part  of  which  consists  in 
copper  utensils.  These  are  regarded  by  them  with  much  pride 
and  are  made  the  subject  of  special  stipulations  [in  the  mar¬ 
riage  contract].  So  Abu  Ya'qub  said  to  the  man  'Have  you 
any  copper  in  your  house?'  ‘Yes',  he  replied,  'I  have  just 
bought  some  in  order  to  give  this  girl  her  outfit.'  'Fetch  it  to 
me,'  he  said,  and  when  the  man  had  brought  it  added  'Now 
borrow  all  the  copper  that  you  can  from  your  neighbours.’  So 
he  did  so  and  laid  all  the  vessels  out  before  him.  Then  Abu 
Ya'qub  lit  fires  around  them,  and  taking  out  a  purse  which  he 
had  containing  the  elixir,  he  threw  some  of  it  upon  the  brass 
and  the  whole  collection  turned  into  gold.  After  putting  these 
into  a  locked  chamber,  Abu  Ya'qub  wrote  a  letter  to  Nur 
al-Dln,  the  king  of  Damascus,  telling  him  about  them  and 
exhorting  him  to  build  a  hospital  for  sick  strangers  and  to 
constitute  endowments  for  it.  He  bade  him  also  build  |  re- 137 
ligious  houses  on  the  highways,  satisfy  the  owners  of  the 
copper  vessels  and  provide  for  the  maintenance  of  the  owner 
of  the  house,  and  concluded  his  letter  with  these  words:  'If 
Ibrahim  b.  Ad’ham  renounced  the  kingdom  of  Khurasan  [as 
he  did],75  I  too  have  renounced  the  kingdom  of  the  Maghrib, 
and  [now  renounce  also]  this  art.  Farewell.'  He  at  once  took 
to  flight,  and  the  owner  of  the  house  brought  the  letter  to  the 
king  Nur  al-Dln,  who  came  to  that  village  and  carried  off  the 

74  It  was  the  rule  of  the  stricter  religious  to  refuse  a  ruler’s  gifts  because 
they  were  derived  from  uncanonical  (and  hence  unlawful)  taxes  and  sources 
of  revenue.  Nur  al-Din,  it  is  said,  was  careful  to  confine  his  household  expen¬ 
diture  to  the  proceeds  of  his  personal  and  legitimately  acquired  property. 

76  On  the  famous  saint  Ibrahim  b.  Ad’ham  see  p.  no,  n.  160. 

87 


SYRIA 


gold,  after  satisfying  the  owners  of  the  copper  vessels  and  the 
man  himself.  He  made  search  for  Abu  Ya'qub,  but  failing  to 
find  any  trace  or  light  upon  any  news  of  him,  returned  to 
Damascus,  where  he  built  the  hospital  which  is  known  by  his 
name  and  which  has  not  its  equal  in  the  inhabited  world.76 

I  came  next  to  the  town  of  Atrabulus  [Tripoli],  one  of  the 
capitals  of  Syria  and  of  its  great  cities,  traversed  by  flowing 
streams,  and  surrounded  by  gardens  and  trees,  flanked  by  the 
i38  sea  with  its  copious  resources  |  and  by  the  land  with  its  sus¬ 
taining  bounties,  and  possessed  of  admirable  bazaars  and 
fertile  lands.  The  sea  is  at  a  distance  of  two  miles  from  it,  and 
the  town  itself  is  of  recent  construction.  The  old  city  of 
Atrabulus  was  right  on  the  edge  of  the  sea  and  was  held  for  a 
time  by  the  Christians,  but  when  it  was  recovered  by  al- 
Malik  al-Zahir  [Baibars]  it  was  pulled  down  and  this  new  town 
was  established  [in  its  place].77  In  this  town  there  are  about 
forty  amirs  of  the  Turks;78  its  governor  is  the  chamberlain 
Tailan,  known  as  'king  of  the  amirs',  and  his  residence  there 
is  in  the  mansion  known  as  Dar  al-Sa'adah  ['the  Abode  of 
Felicity'].79  It  is  a  habit  of  his  to  ride  out  every  Monday  and 
Thursday,  the  amirs  and  regular  troops  also  riding  with  him, 

76  The  famous  bimaristan  or  hospital  of  Nur  al-Din  (built  in  1154)  is 
described  by  Ibn  Jubair  (tr.  Broadhurst,  296);  for  a  fuller  modern  account, 
see  Ahmad  Issa  Bey,  Histoire  des  bimaristans  a  Vepoque  islamique  (Cairo, 
1928),  190-201.  The  building  itself  is  still  in  existence,  just  west  of  the 
Umayyad  Mosque.  I  have  found  no  trace  elsewhere  of  the  legend  related  by 
Ibn  Battuta;  the  general  account  is  that  its  cost  was  defrayed  by  the  ransom 
paid  for  a  Frankish  prince. 

77  Tripoli,  after  remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  Crusaders  for  180  years, 
was  recaptured  in  1289  by  the  Egyptian  sultan  al-Malik  al-Ashraf  Khalil, 
the  elder  brother  and  predecessor  of  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  but  Ibn  Battuta’s 
error  is  interesting  as  showing  that  already  popular  tradition  had  concen¬ 
trated  on  Baibars  as  the  hero  of  the  reconquest.  In  the  Mamluk  organization 
of  Syria,  Tripoli  was  the  capital  of  one  of  the  six  provinces  or  ‘kingdoms’ 
into  which  the  country  was  divided.  The  old  town  was  situated  on  the 
peninsula  at  the  present  port,  the  new  city  on  a  spur  some  three  miles  inland 
near  the  crusading  castle  of  Saint-Gilles  (burned  in  1289  and  subsequently 
rebuilt). 

78  I.e.  Mamluk  administrative  and  military  officers  (see  p.  52,  n.  164). 

79  Tailan  is  a  mistake  for  Tainal  al-Ashrafi  (Saif  al-Din,  called  the  Cham¬ 
berlain),  who  was  appointed  governor  of  Tripolis  on  9  May  1326,  and  trans¬ 
ferred  to  Gaza  in  November  1332.  The  total  strength  of  the  forces  at  Tripolis 
was  3000  to  4000  men,  but  the  regular  troops  probably  numbered  only  a 
few  hundreds.  The  procession  described  in  the  following  sentences  formed  the 
preliminary  to  the  ceremonial  sessions  held  by  the  governor  in  his  hall  of 
justice;  see  Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  La  Syrie,  no  f.,  222  ff. 

88  * 


TRIPOLI 


and  proceed  thus  into  the  open  country  beyond  the  town.  On 
returning  to  it,  and  as  he  approaches  his  residence,  the 
amirs  dismount,  hand  over  their  horses,  and  walk  before  him 
on  foot  until  he  enters  his  house,  when  they  disperse. 

The  drum-band80  plays  before  the  residence  of  each  of  these  i39 
amirs  every  day  after  the  sunset  prayer,  and  torches  are  lit  as 
well. 

Amongst  the  notables  who  were  living  at  Atrabulus  were 
the  following:  the  confidential  secretary81  Baha/  al-Din  b. 
Ghanim,  a  worthy  and  much  respected  man,  known  for  his 
liberality  and  generosity  (his  brother  Husam  al-Din  is  the 
shaikh  of  Jerusalem  the  Holy,  as  we  have  already  mentioned,82 
and  a  third  brother  'Ala  al-Din  is  confidential  secretary  at 
Damascus);  the  intendant  of  the  treasury,  Qiwam  al-Din  b. 
Makin,  a  most  eminent  man;  and  the  chief  qadi  of  the  town, 
Shams  al-Din  ibn  al-Naqib,  one  of  the  most  notable  of  the 
learned  men  of  Syria.83 

There  are  in  this  city  some  fine  bath-houses,  among  them 
being  the  bath-house  of  the  qadi  al-Qirimi  and  that  of  Sanda- 
mur,  who  was  a  former  governor  of  the  city,  |  and  of  whose  i4o 
severity  to  evildoers  many  stories  are  told.84  For  example,  a 
woman  complained  to  him  that  one  of  his  private  mamluks 
had  seized  from  her  some  milk  that  she  was  selling  and  had 
drunk  it.  She  had  no  evidence  to  support  her  tale,  but  Sanda- 
mur  gave  orders  that  he  should  be  cut  in  two,  and  the  milk 
came  out  of  his  entrails.  A  similar  story  is  told  of  al-'Atris,  one 


80  The  ‘drum-band’  ( tablkhana )  was  composed  of  kettle-drums,  trumpets 
and  oboes,  and  played  a  fanfare  every  evening  at  the  palaces  of  the  sultan 
and  the  principal  amirs.  A  considerable  proportion  of  the  ‘forty  amirs’  men¬ 
tioned  above  must,  however,  have  been  below  the  rank  entitled  to  this  dis¬ 
tinction. 

81  The  katib  al-sirr  or  confidential  secretary  was  the  chief  secretary  and 
head  of  the  chancery.  This  Baha’  al-Din  was  Abu  Bakr  b.  Muhammad  b. 
Salman,  d.  1334  ( Durar ,  I,  458);  for  his  brother  ‘Ala’  al-Din  ‘Ali,  noted  as  a 
man  of  letters,  d.  1336,  see  p.  151,  n.  311. 

82  This  Husam  al-Din  (who  is  not  mentioned  in  the  passage  relating  to 
Jerusalem,  pp.  77—80  above),  was  not  a  brother  of  Baha’  al-Din,  but 
Sulaiman  b.  al-Hasan  b.  al-Shaikh  Ghanim,  d.  1329  [Durar,  II,  148). 

83  Muhammad  b.  Abu  Bakr  b.  Ibrahim,  1263-1345,  subsequently  qadi  of 
Aleppo  [Durar,  III,  398). 

84  Sandamur  or  Asandamur  al-Gurji  (‘the  Georgian’)  was  appointed  gover¬ 
nor  of  Tripolis  in  1300  and  after  holding  other  governorships  was  imprisoned 
in  1311. 


89 


SYRIA 


of  al-Malik  al-Nasir’s  amirs,  at  the  time  when  he  was  governor 
of  ‘Aidhab,  and  another  is  related  of  the  king  Kabak,  the 
sultan  of  Turkistan.85 

From  Tripoli  I  went  on  to  Hisn  al-Akrad,  a  small  town  on 
the  top  of  a  hill,  with  abundance  of  trees  and  flowing  streams. 
Here  there  is  a  religious  house  known  as  the  convent  of  al- 
Ibrahimi,  after  the  name  of  [its  founder,  who  was]  one  of  the 
high  amirs.86  I  stayed  with  the  qadi  of  the  place,87  but  I 
cannot  now  recall  his  name  exactly. 

I  proceeded  next  to  the  town  of  Hims,88  which  is  an  attrac- 
i4i  five  town;  its  environs  are  charming,  its  trees  |  verdant,  its 
streams  copious;  its  bazaars  are  remarkable  for  the  width  of 
their  streets,  and  its  congregational  mosque  is  distinguished 
by  the  beauty  of  its  assembled  parts.  In  the  centre  of  the 
mosque  there  is  a  pool  of  water.  The  people  of  Hims  are  Arabs, 
men  of  excellent  and  generous  character.  Outside  this  town 
is  the  tomb  of  Khalid  b.  al-Walid,  the  Sword  of  God  and  of 
His  Apostle;89  beside  it  there  is  a  religious  house  and  a 
mosque,  and  the  tomb  is  covered  with  a  black  pall.  The  qadi 
of  this  town  is  Jamal  al-Dln  al-Sharlshl,  one  of  the  most 

85  On  Kabak  see  below  (vol.  II).  Aqush  al-'Atris  commanded  an  expedi¬ 
tion  to  ‘Aidhab  in  1319.  A  similar  story  is  told  also  of  Muhammad  the 
Defterdar  during  the  Turco-Egyptian  campaign  in  Kordofan  in  1821.  A 
complaint  was  preferred  by  a  woman  against  a  soldier,  and  the  commander 
had  the  man  cut  open  alive  ‘on  the  woman’s  agreeing  to  suffer  the  same  fate 
if  the  milk  was  not  found  in  the  man’s  stomach’  ( Journal  of  the  African 
Society,  no.  98,  Jan.  1926,  p.  170). 

86  Hisn  al-Akrad,  ‘Castle  of  the  Kurds’,  so  called  from  a  Kurdish  garrison 
established  there  about  1030,  was  reconstructed  by  the  Crusaders  as  the 
famous  Crac  des  Chevaliers.  After  its  recapture  by  Sultan  Baibars  in  1271,  it 
was  for  a  time  the  capital  of  the  district  of  Tripolis,  but  was  by  now  only  a 
garrison  town  of  the  second  rank.  See  the  elaborate  study  of  P.  Deschamps, 
Le  Crac  des  Chevaliers  (Paris,  1934).  The  village  is  now  called  Qal'at 
al-Husn. 

87  The  text  appears  to  read  ‘the  qadi  of  the  zawiya’,  but  this  is  clearly  a 
slip. 

88  Colloquially  pronounced  and  generally  transliterated  Homs,  the  ancient 
Emesa;  see  the  article  in  E.I.,  with  a  town  plan  and  description  of  the 
Great  Mosque.  Ibn  Jubair  (tr.  Broadhurst,  267-8)  describes  the  city  as  situ¬ 
ated  in  a  dusty  plain,  waterless  and  treeless,  but  Ibn  Battuta’s  Syrian  con¬ 
temporary  Abu’l-Fida  also  mentions  the  gardens  of  Hims,  watered  from 
the  Orontes  (cf.  Le  Strange,  Palestine,  357). 

89  Khalid  b.  al-Walid,  the  ‘Sword  of  God’,  was  the  most  brilliant  general 
of  the  period  of  the  Arab  conquests.  In  repeated  engagements  he  drove  the 
Byzantines  out  of  Syria  and  died  there  in  641  or  642.  His  tomb  is  still  shown 
at  Hims,  on  the  Hamah  road,  just  outside  the  former  north  wall  of  the  town. 

90 


HIMS  AND  HAMAH 

beautiful  of  men  in  figure  and  of  the  most  upright  in  conduct.90 

I  went  on  from  there  to  the  town  of  Hamah,  one  of  the 
dignified  metropolitan  centres  and  elegant  cities  of  Syria,  of 
exceeding  comeliness  and  surpassing  beauty,  and  surrounded 
by  orchards  and  gardens,  supplied  by  water-wheels  [norias] 
like  revolving  spheres.  It  is  traversed  by  the  great  river 
called  al-'AsI  ['the  Rebel’],  and  has  a  suburb  called  al- 
Mansuriya,  which  is  larger  than  the  town  itself,  and  has 
busy  markets  and  fine  bath-houses.91  Hamah  produces  great 
quantities  of  fruit,  amongst  them  being  the  almond  apricot; 
when  you  break  open  its  kernel  you  find  a  sweet  almond 
inside  it.92 

Ibn  Juzayy  adds:  It  is  this  city  and  her  river,  water-wheels 
and  orchards,  that  form  the  subject  of  the  following  verses 
by  the  man  of  letters  and  traveller  Nur  al-Dln  Abu’l-Hasan 
‘All  b.  Musa  b.  Sa'id  al-'AnsI  al-'Ammari  of  Gharnata,  whose 
ethnic  is  derived  from  ‘Ammar  b.  Yasir  (God  be  pleased  with 
him):93 

May  God  guard  those  scenes  in  Hamah  that  border  both 
banks  of  her  river 

By  which  I  have  lingered  with  hearing  and  musing  and 
sight ! 

The  doves  in  her  gardens  are  singing,  the  boughs  in  the 
breeze  are  aquiver, 

Her  buildings  so  brave  that  they  baffle  the  tongue  to 
indite. 

90  Abu  Bakr  Muhammad  b.  Ahmad  al-Sharishl  (1295-1368)  came  of  a 
celebrated  family  of  jurists,  whose  ancestor  Jamal  al-Dln  Abu  Bakr  al- 
Bakri,  a  native  of  Sharish  (now  Jerez  de  la  Frontera,  in  the  province  of 
Cadiz),  settled  in  Syria  and  died  there  in  1286. 

91  On  Hamah  see  the  article  (with  plan)  in  E.I.  It  formed  at  this  time  an 
independent  sultanate,  under  the  suzerainty  of  Egypt,  and  ruled  by  the 
last  representatives  of  the  Ayyubid  dynasty  founded  by  Saladin.  From  1310 
to  1331  the  sultan  was  the  famous  historian  and  geographer  Abu’l-Fida. 

The  norias  (Arabic  naura)  are  still  one  of  the  most  distinctive  features  of 
Hamah.  The  Arabic  name  of  the  river  Orontes,  al-‘AsI,  is  punningly  derived 
from  the  Greek  name  Axios,  and  rationalized  by  the  explanation  that,  in 
contrast  to  the  other  rivers  in  Syria,  it  flows  from  south  to  north. 

92  The  hamawl  or  white  apricot,  considered  to  be  the  finest  variety  in 
quality  and  sweetness,  and  much  praised  by  Arab  poets. 

93  One  of  the  most  famous  Spanish- Arabic  men  of  letters  ( c .  1214-86), 
geographer,  historian,  and  literary  critic.  He  travelled  in  the  East  between 
1240  and  1254  and  again  in  later  life. 

91 


142 


SYRIA 


Men  chide  me  because  I  rebel  at  restraint  and  at  reason’s 
repression,  | 

143  And  homage  I  pay  to  the  cup  and  to  revel  and  cheer. 

If  the  river  itself  be  a  rebel  in  Hamah  why  hold  it  trans¬ 
gression 

That  I  follow  its  lead  and  I  drink  of  the  wine  strong  and 
clear? 

My  voice  in  its  ringing  descant  keeps  time  with  her  norias’ 
screeching. 

My  hand  with  their  ladling,  but  swifter  the  dance  of  my 
feet. 

Lamenting,  they  scatter  incessant  their  tears,  like  to  lovers 
beseeching 

With  passion  to  see  their  beloved  and  her  favours 
entreat. 

Another  poet  speaks  of  the  water-wheels  thus,  using  the  figure 
of  concealed  allusion:94 

Many  a  noria,  compassioning  my  sin, 

As  from  afar  she  saw  my  fell  intent, 

Tenderly  wept  and  voiced  her  grief — enough 
That  even  the  timber  weeps  The  Impenitent’ !  | 

144  A  modern  poet  has  written  of  her,  with  the  same  figure  of 
concealed  allusion: 

O  men  of  Hamah,  by  our  ancient  ties, 

To  godly  ways  and  simple  faith  I  cling ! 

Let  one  recall  our  meeting,  to  mine  eyes 
The  tears,  obedient  as  the  ‘Rebel’,  spring. 

(Resumes.)  I  then  journeyed  to  the  town  of  al-Ma‘arra 
from  which  the  poet  Abul-‘Ala  al-Ma‘arri95  and  many  other 
poets  as  well  derive  their  designation  [of  Ma‘arri]. 

Ibn  Juzayy  remarks:  The  reason  why  it  is  called  Ma‘arrat 
al-Nu‘man  is  that  al-Nu‘man  b.  Bashir  al-Ansari,  the  Com¬ 
panion  of  the  Prophet  (God  bless  him  and  give  him  peace), 

94  The  tawri’a  or  double  entente,  represented  in  these  examples  by  the  pun 
on  the  Arabic  name  of  the  Orontes,  al-‘Asi,  i.e.  ‘the  rebel’;  see  n.  91  above. 

95  One  of  the  most  famous  of  Arab  poets  (973-1057);  see  ‘The  Meditations 
of  al-Ma‘arri’,  in  R.  A.  Nicholson,  Studies  in  Islamic  Poetry  (Cambridge, 
1921),  43-207. 


92 


al-ma‘arra 


had  a  son  who  died  during  his  tenure  of  the  governorship  of 
Hims,  and  he  buried  him  at  al-Ma‘arra.96  It  came  to  be  called 
by  his  name  in  consequence,  having  previously  been  called 
Dhat  al-Qusur  [that  is  to  say,  Ma‘arra  of  the  Forts  or  Palaces]. 
Others  say  that  al-Nu‘man  is  a  hill  overlooking  the  town, 
from  which  it  takes  its  name.  | 

(Resumes.)  Al-Ma‘arra  is  a  small  and  pretty  town,  whose  145 
orchards  are  mostly  of  fig  and  pistachio,  and  the  fruit  is 
exported  thence  to  Cairo  and  Damascus.  In  its  environs,  at 
a  distance  of  one  farsakh  from  the  town,  is  the  grave  of  the 
Commander  of  the  Faithful  ‘Omar  b.  ‘Abd  al-'AzIz,  but  there 
is  no  religious  house  by  it,  nor  has  it  any  guardian.97  The 
reason  for  this  is  that  it  happens  to  be  in  the  district  in¬ 
habited  by  a  sect  of  Rafidis,  abominable  persons  who  hate  the 
Ten  Companions98  (God  be  pleased  with  them  and  curse 
those  who  hate  them);  they  hate  also  every  one  whose  name  is 
‘Omar,  especially  ‘Omar  b.  ‘Abd  al-‘Az!z  (God  be  pleased 
with  him)  on  account  of  his  action  in  regard  to  the  venera¬ 
tion  of  ‘All  (God  be  pleased  with  him).99 

We  travelled  from  there  to  the  town  of  Sarmln,  a  pretty 
place  with  a  great  quantity  of  orchards,  their  principal  tree 
being  the  olive.100  Brick  soap  is  manufactured  there  and 
exported  to  Cairo  and  Damascus;  they  manufacture  also 
perfumed  soap,  for  washing  the  hands,  |  and  this  they  dye  146 
with  red  and  yellow.  At  Sarmln  too  are  manufactured  fine 

96  Born  at  Madina  about  623,  he  held  the  governorship  of  Hims  for  a  rebel 
leader  683-4,  and  was  killed  in  684  in  a  revolt  of  the  inhabitants.  The  legend 
which  associates  his  name  with  Ma'arra  is  doubted  by  the  geographer 
Yaqut,  who  attributes  the  name  Nu'man  to  the  Arab  tribe  of  Tanukh. 
Ma'arra  (or  Arra)  was  already  an  important  city  in  Greco-Roman  times,  and 
the  old  name  given  to  it  by  Ibn  Juzayy  probably  derives  from  the  ruins  of 
its  ancient  palaces. 

97  The  Umayyad  caliph  ‘Omar  b.  ‘Abd  al-'Aziz  (Omar  II),  reigned  717-20, 
famed  for  his  upright  and  saintly  life.  He  was  buried  at  Dair  al-Naqira  (or 
Dair  Sim'an),  somewhat  further  to  the  west  of  Ma'arra  than  the  two  to 
three  miles  indicated  by  Ibn  Battuta.  The  site  has  now  disappeared. 

98  The  Rafidis  in  this  region  were  not  ‘orthodox’  Shi'ites,  but  schismatic 
extremists  of  the  Nusairl  sect.  The  ‘Ten  Companions’,  those  to  whom 
Muhammad  gave  the  promise  of  Paradise,  include  the  first  four  caliphs, 
Abu  Bakr,  ‘Omar  I,  ‘Othman,  and  ‘All. 

99  ‘Omar  II  forbade  the  ceremonial  ‘cursing’  of  'All  from  the  pulpit  which 
was  a  feature  of  Umayyad  ritual. 

100  The  upland  regions  of  northern  Syria  were  and  still  are  predominantly 
olive-growing. 


93 


SYRIA 


cotton  fabrics,  which  are  known  by  its  name.  Its  popula¬ 
tion  are  revilers,  who  hate  'the  Ten’,  and — an  extraordinary 
thing — never  mention  the  word  'ten\  When  their  brokers  are 
selling  goods  by  auction  in  their  bazaars  and  come  to  ten, 
they  say  'nine  and  one’.  One  day  a  Turk  happened  to  be 
there,  and  hearing  a  broker  cry  'nine  and  one’,  he  laid  his  club 
about  his  head  saying  'say  ten’,  whereupon  quoth  he  ‘Ten  for 
the  sake  of  the  club'.  There  is  a  congregational  mosque  there 
with  nine  domes,  and  they  avoided  making  them  ten,  in 
accordance  with  their  detestable  doctrine. 

We  journeyed  thereafter  to  the  city  of  Halab  [Aleppo],  that 
city  of  the  first  magnitude  and  vast  metropolis.  Abud- 
Husain  Ibn  Jubair  has  expressed  himself  thus  describing  it: 
'Honourable  is  her  rank,  and  far-flung  in  every  age  her  name, 
many  the  kings  who  have  sought  her  hand,  and  privileged  her 
147  position  in  all  hearts.  How  many  |  a  hand-to-hand  combat  has 
she  excited,  how  many  gleaming  blades  have  been  unscab- 
barded  for  her !  She  has  a  citadel  famed  for  natural  strength, 
conspicuous  in  height,  and  exempted  by  inaccessibility  from 
being  sought  or  won,  whose  flanks  are  of  squared  stones,  and 
which  is  erected  in  the  proportion  of  symmetry  and  stability 
of  elevation.  She  has  contended  with  the  days  and  the  years, 
and  has  sped  on  their  last  journey  both  nobles  and  commons. 
Where  are  her  amirs  of  Hamdan  and  their  poets?101  Perished 
every  one,  and  naught  remains  save  that  which  they  built. 
O  wonder,  that  cities  remain  and  their  lords  pass  away;  these 
perish,  but  the  destruction  of  those  is  not  decreed!  Others 
seek  their  hand  after  them  and  find  no  obstacle  to  asserting 
lordship  over  them,  desire  them  and  succeed  in  obtaining 
them  with  the  lightest  effort.  This  city  of  Halab,  how  many 
of  her  kings  has  she  conducted  into  the  category  of  the  past, 
how  often  has  she  superseded  the  adverb  of  time  by  the 
adverb  of  place  !102  Feminine  is  her  name,  and  she  has  decked 

101  Aleppo  was  occupied  in  944  by  Saif  al-Dawla  ‘All  b.  Abu’l-Haija,  of 
the  noble  Arab  house  of  Hamdan  from  eastern  Mesopotamia.  He  made  an 
immense  name  for  himself  by  his  campaigns  against  the  Byzantine  Greeks 
and  by  the  literary  brilliance  of  his  court,  which  included  amongst  others 
the  famous  poets  al-Mutanabbi  and  Abu  Firas,  to  whose  panegyrics  Saif 
al-Dawla  owes  much  of  his  fame.  He  died  in  967,  and  his  descendants  con¬ 
tinued  to  rule  in  Aleppo  until  the  end  of  the  century. 

102  Arabic  poets  and  rhetoricians  took  a  particular  delight  in  such  meta¬ 
phors  derived  from  the  rules  of  Arabic  grammar  and  syntax;  the  second 

94 


ALEPPO 


herself  |  in  the  ornaments  of  womanly  beauty;103  she  has  i4s 
followed  the  practice  of  lying  excuse  after  the  manner  of  other 
women,104  and  has  displayed  herself  in  bridal  finery  after  [the 
loss  of]  the  Sword  of  her  Fortune  [Saif  al-Dawla]  Ibn  Ham- 
dan.  Alas,  her  youth  must  give  place  to  age,  her  suitors  must 
be  no  more,  and  after  a  time  shall  her  ruin  hasten  towards 
her/ 

The  citadel  of  Halab  is  called  al-Shahba/;105  within  it  are 
two  wells  fed  with  water  from  springs,106  whence  it  has  no 
fear  of  thirst.  It  is  encompassed  by  two  walls  and  around  it 
[between  the  two  walls]  is  a  great  trench,  also  fed  with  water 
from  springs.  Its  [inner]  wall  is  close  set  with  towers,  in  which 
there  have  been  contrived  marvellous  upper  rooms,  pierced 
with  windows,  and  every  tower  amongst  them  is  inhabited. 
Foodstuffs  do  not  corrupt  in  this  castle  in  spite  of  long- 
keeping.107  In  it  there  is  a  sanctuary  which  is  visited  by  some 
persons,  and  of  which  it  is  told  that  al-Khalil  [Abraham] — 
upon  him  be  peace — was  wont  to  make  his  devotions  there.108 

This  citadel  resembles  the  citadel  of  Rahbat  Malik  b. 
Tawq,  which  is  on  the  Euphrates,  between  Syria  and  ‘Iraq.109 
When  Qazan  [Ghazan],  the  emperor  of  the  Tatars,110  attacked 
the  city  of  Aleppo,  he  laid  siege  to  this  citadel  |  for  several  i49 
days,  but  had  to  withdraw  from  it  with  his  hopes  frustrated. 

implies  the  permanence  of  the  site  over  the  impermanence  of  the  temporal 
events  of  which  it  was  the  scene. 

103  Literally,  ‘of  the  young  women  who  stand  in  no  need  of  (artificial) 
ornament’. 

104  The  printed  text  of  Ibn  Jubair  has  ‘And  has  practised  perfidy  according 
to  the  deceitful  way  of  women’,  both  phrases  recalling  traditional  themes  of 
Arabic  poetry. 

105  Al-Shahba’  means  ‘the  iron-grey’.  The  reason  why  it  is  called  by  this 
name  is  apparently  unknown.  This  paragraph  is  also  loosely  taken  from  Ibn 
Jubair’s  description. 

106  All  the  Arabic  writers  assert  that  there  were  springs  in  the  citadel,  but 
at  the  present  time  none  are  known,  and  it  seems  probable  that  the  water 
was  actually  suppplied  by  subterranean  conduits. 

107  This  sentence  refers  probably  to  storage  of  grain. 

108  A  small  mosque  in  the  citadel,  now  dismantled,  is  still  known  as  the 
Mosque  of  Abraham  (seep.  97,  n.  113). 

109  Rahba  lies  south  of  the  Euphrates,  opposite  Qirqislya  (Circesium). 
The  citadel  was  built  by  Malik  b.  Tawq  of  the  Arab  tribe  of  Taghlib,  in  the 
reign  of  al-Ma’mun  (c.  815). 

110  The  Mongol  Ilkhan  of  Persia  and  Iraq  (1295-1304).  He  laid  siege  to 
Aleppo  on  his  first  expedition  to  Syria  in  1299  and  again  in  1300,  on  both 
occasions  without  success. 


H 


95 


T.O.I.B. 


SYRIA 


Ibn  Juzayy  adds:  It  is  of  this  citadel  that  al-Khalidl,  the 
poet  of  Saif  al-Dawla,111  speaks  in  the  following  verses: 

Lo !  on  her  grim  and  massy  rock 
That  holds  to  scorn  the  foeman's  shock 
With  lofty  tower  and  perilous  steep, 

Majestic  stands  Aleppo’s  keep. 

The  bosom  of  the  windswept  clouds 
Her  topmost  pinnacle  enshrouds; 

The  spangled  stars  of  heaven  rest, 

A  glittering  circlet,  on  her  breast. 

When  night  is  rent  with  levin  spears 
Amid  their  fulgour  she  appears, 

As  through  the  drifting  cirrus  sprays 
Resplendent  Virgo  sheds  her  rays. 

How  many  a  troop  ’gainst  her  arrayed 
Hath  she  with  anguished  death  repaid ! 

How  many  a  conqueror  flushed  with  fame 
Hurled  back,  crestfallen,  whence  he  came ! 

The  same  poet  refers  to  it  thus,  in  verses  of  brilliant 
imagery:  | 

i5o  A  fortress  she — with  her  base  the  water-springs  she  enfolds, 
Her  summit  over  Orion’s  starry  belt  stands  erect. 

Raindrops  she  knows  not,  for  she  the  clouds  as  her  earth 
beholds, 

Over  their  wide  pasture-lands  her  flocks  and  her  cattle  ply. 
The  store  of  the  lavish  clouds,  so  oft  as  its  bounties  flow, 

Her  dwellers  drain  to  her  tanks  or  ever  her  towers  are 
flecked, 

Her  belvedere  mid  the  constellations  were  surely  known 
Were  it  to  join  in  their  march  across  the  evening  sky. 

Her  stratagems  have  repulsed  full  many  a  guileful  foe, 

Her  dire  defence  their  calamitous  assaults  overthrown. 

Speaking  of  her  the  poet  Jamal  al-Din  'All  b.  Abi‘1- 
Mansur112  says: 

111  There  were  two  brothers,  Abu  Bakr  Muhammad  and  Abu  ‘Othman 
Sa'Id  b.  Hashim,  from  the  village  of  al-Khalidiya,  near  Mosul;  they  died 
about  990  and  1009  respectively.  They  were  inseparable  during  their  lifetime, 
and  their  poems  were  generally  joint  productions. 

112 1  have  not  been  able  to  identify  any  poet  of  this  name. 

96 


ALEPPO 


Immense  in  height,  her  soaring  tower  comes  near 
To  stay  the  orbit  of  the  circling  sphere.  | 

The  Milky  Way  supplies  her  watering  needs,  151 

The  flowering  stars  the  pasture  of  her  steeds. 

Even  fickle  Time,  dismayed,  turns  back  again, 

And  fears  to  spend  one  night  in  her  domain. 

(Resumes.)  The  city  of  Halab  is  sometimes  called  Halab 
Ibrahim  [i.e.  ‘Milk  of  Abraham’],  because  [Abraham]  al- 
Khalll  (the  blessings  and  peace  of  God  be  upon  our  Prophet 
and  upon  him)  used  to  live  there.  He  had  large  flocks  of  sheep, 
and  supplied  the  needy,  the  destitute,  and  all  who  went  to 
and  fro,  with  milk  from  them,  so  that  they  used  to  assemble 
together  and  ask  for  The  milk  of  Abraham’,  and  the  town 
received  its  name  from  that.113  It  is  one  of  the  most  illustrious 
of  cities,  and  one  which  has  no  rival  in  beauty  of  plan  and 
perfection  of  arrangement,  and  in  the  spaciousness  and  sym¬ 
metrical  disposition  of  the  bazaars.  Those  at  Aleppo  are 
roofed  with  wood,  so  that  its  occupants  are  always  ‘in 
extended  shade’.114  Its  qaisarlya115  cannot  be  paralleled  for 
beauty  and  size;  |  it  encircles  the  [chief]  mosque  of  the  city,  152 
and  each  of  its  arcades  faces  one  of  the  doors  of  the  mosque. 
The  congregational  mosque  itself  is  one  of  the  most  splendid 
buildings  of  its  kind.116  In  the  court  there  is  a  pool  of  water, 

113  This  medieval  tradition,  obviously  based  on  the  homonymy  of  the  name 
Halab  with  the  Arabic  word  for  ‘milk’,  is  found  not  only  in  most  Arabic 
authors  but  also  in  works  of  the  crusading  period  (Fulcher  of  Chartres,  III, 
cap.  37).  The  geographer  Yaqut,  however,  expresses  doubts  about  it  on 
philological  grounds.  The  name  Halaap  is  already  found  in  cuneiform  texts 
as  that  of  a  Hittite  kingdom  in  the  twentieth  century  b.c. 

114  The  phrase  is  from  a  Qur’anic  description  of  Paradise  (Sura  lvi,  30). 

115  Qaisarlya  is  defined  variously  as  ‘a  public  place  in  which  the  market  is 
held’  or  ‘a  square  building  with  chambers,  storerooms,  and  stalls  for  mer¬ 
chants’.  The  term  is  evidently  derived  from  the  Latin  or  Greek,  and  was 
used  originally  only  by  the  Arabs  of  Syria  and  North  Africa,  but  its  origin 
is  obscure.  Of  various  theories  which  have  been  advanced  the  most  probable 
is  that  it  means  a  market  building  privileged  or  authorized  by  the  ruler 
(originally  in  these  countries,  of  course,  the  Caesar)  in  return  for  a  certain 
fixed  payment,  but  no  corresponding  term  has  been  found  in  the  Byzantine 
histories.  The  Qaisarlya  was  obviously  the  chief  bazaar  in  its  town  (the  term 
still  survives  in  this  sense),  and  had  its  own  gates.  See  G.  Le  Strange,  Lands 
of  the  Eastern  Caliphate  (Cambridge,  1905),  89. 

116  The  Great  Mosque  was  burned  down  by  the  Armenians  in  1260,  and 
was  rebuilt  by  the  governor  Qarasunqur  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century  and  by  al-Malik  al-Nasir  in  1326. 

97 


SYRIA 


which  is  surrounded  by  a  pavement  of  vast  extent,  and  its 
pulpit  is  of  exquisite  workmanship,  inlaid  with  ivory  and 
ebony.  Close  by  the  cathedral  mosque  is  a  madrasa  which 
corresponds  to  it  in  beauty  of  plan  and  skill  in  execution;  this 
madrasa  is  attributed  to  the  amirs  of  the  Banu  Hamdan.117 
The  town  contains  in  addition  to  this  three  other  madrasas 
and  a  hospital. 

As  for  the  country  in  the  environs  of  the  city,  it  is  a  broad 
and  extensive  plain,  covered  with  huge  tilled  fields,  and 
vines  planted  in  ordered  rows.  The  fruit-gardens  are  on  the 
bank  of  its  river,  which  is  the  same  river  as  flows  past  Hamah 
and  is  called  The  Rebel’.118  It  is  said  to  have  been  called  by 
this  name  because  it  seems  to  one  who  looks  at  it  as 
though  its  flow  were  from  down  to  up.  The  spirit  feels  in  the 
153  environs  of  the  city  of  Aleppo  |  an  exhilaration,  gladness 
and  sprightliness  which  are  not  experienced  elsewhere,  and 
it  is  one  of  the  cities  which  is  worthy  to  be  the  seat  of  the 
Caliphate. 

Ibn  Juzayy  remarks:  The  poets  have  been  profuse  in  de¬ 
scription  of  the  beauties  of  Aleppo  and  in  reference  both  to 
the  city  herself  and  to  her  environs.  Abu  ‘Ubada  al-Buhturl 
speaks  of  her  as  follows:119 

O  lightning,  in  thy  flame  Quwaiq  disclose 
And  Halab’s  bounds,  and  Bityas’  castled  peak.120 
Shine  where  the  fields  of  saffron-tinted  rose 
Enfold  her,  and  the  oft-plucked  myrtle  grows. 

When,  lone  and  sad  at  heart,  her  gates  I  seek 
With  ready  cheer  she  dissipates  my  woes. 


117  This  is  probably  the  Hallawiya  madrasa,  opposite  the  west  gate  of  the 
mosque.  It  was  formerly  the  Christian  cathedral,  which  was  turned  into  a 
mosque  in  1124  in  reprisal  for  the  outrages  committed  by  the  Crusaders 
during  the  siege  of  Aleppo,  and  made  into  a  madrasa  by  Nur  al-Din  in  1 1 50. 
The  attribution  to  the  Hamdanids  is  false,  since  the  first  madrasa  in  Aleppo 
was  built  between  1 1 1 7  and  1 1 24. 

118  This  is  an  obvious  error;  the  river  of  Aleppo  is  the  Quwaiq,  which 
descends  from  the  north. 

119  Al-Buhturl  (820-97),  one  °I  the  most  famous  of  Syrian  poets,  was  born 
and  died  at  Mambij,  east  of  Aleppo.  I  have  followed  the  Diwan  (Constanti¬ 
nople,  a.h.  1300),  I,  248,  in  reading  faturratai  in  place  of  reading  matalibl  in 
the  text. 

120  Bityas,  a  village  3  miles  east  of  Aleppo,  was  the  residence  of  a  former 
Arab  prince:  see  J.  Sauvaget,  Alep,  I  (Paris,  1941),  n.  228. 

98 


ALEPPO 


The  exquisite  poet  Abu  Bakr  al-Sanawbari  says  of  her:121  | 

O'er  Halab's  domain  may  the  clouds  milk  their  treasure ! 
How  oft  to  her  joys  hath  she  linked  new  delight ! 

How  many  a  draught  hath  she  yielded  of  pleasure, 

When  all  joy  of  living  seemed  under  a  blight. 

When  blossoms  their  banners  unfurl  in  her  meadows, 

Their  silken-fringed  garments  and  turbans  unfold, 

They  appear  as  the  dawning  disperses  the  shadows, 

With  edges  of  silver  and  centres  of  gold. 

Abu'l-‘Ala  al-Ma‘arri  also  has  said  of  her:122 

Halab  the  true  as  Eden  view 
The  faithless  as  Sadr. 

The  great  in  size,  within  his  eyes 
Her  small  things  huge  appear. 

Her  people  style  Quwaiq  a  Nile,  | 

Each  pebble  a  Thabir.123 

Abu'l-Fityan  ibn  Hayyus  says  of  her:124 

When  for  my  ill  no  cure  you  find, 

Fetch  me  a  breath  of  Ha  lab's  wind, 

Where  eastern  airs  bring  quiet  ease, 

For  this  I  crave — the  ‘Udhrite  breeze. 

Abu'l-Fath  Kushajim  has  the  following  lines  on  her:125 

No  town  to  its  protege  yields  the  delights 
Which  Halab  bestows  on  her  neighbour  and  friend. 

121  Al-Sanawbari  (d.  945),  of  Antioch,  was  noted  for  his  poetry  describing 
gardens  and  natural  scenes. 

122  For  Abu’l-‘Ala  see  p.  92,  n.  95.  The  verses  are  taken  from  a  poem 
composed  on  the  wedding  of  some  prominent  citizen  or  governor  of  Aleppo 
( Siqt  al-Zand,  ed.  Bulaq  1869,  I,  56). 

123  Salr  is  one  of  the  names  of  Hell  in  the  Qur’an.  Thabir  is  a  mountain 
near  Mecca.  The  point  of  the  sarcasm  is  the  small  size  and  yield  of  Quwaiq, 
which  was  hardly  more  than  a  rivulet  until  supplemented  by  water  drawn 
from  the  Sajur  (see  p.  54,  n.  168). 

124  Muhammad  b.  Sultan  b.  Muhammad  b.  Hayyus  (1003-81),  a  noted 
Damascene  poet,  whose  dlwan  has  been  published  at  Damascus  (1951). 
For  the  ‘  ‘Udhrite  breeze’  (i.e.  of  romantic  love)  see  p.  253,  n.  23. 

125  Abu’l-Fath  b.  al-Sindi  (d.  970),  a  noted  scholar  and  wit  of  the  Ham- 
danid  age,  whose  pen-name  Kushajim  is  an  acrostic  composed  of  the  first 
letters  of  his  accomplishments  as  secretary,  poet,  wit,  scholastic,  and 
astrologer.  In  later  life,  having  studied  medicine,  he  tried  to  remodel  this 
name  as  Takshajim,  but  the  new  form  did  not  take. 

99 


SYRIA 


Whate’er  thou  desirest  within  her  unites; 

So  seek  her,  and  fortune  her  seekers  attend ! 

The  following  verses  on  her  are  by  Abul-Hasan  'All  b. 
Musa  Ibn  Sa'Id  al-Gharnatl  al-‘ Ansi: 126 

Ho,  drover !  Oft  thou  bidst  thy  camels  kneel ! 

Gone  are  their  folk — lead  on  my  anguished  soul !  | 

156  Halab,  that  heals  my  longing  of  its  smart, 

qibla  of  yearnings,  of  my  search  the  goal, 

For  thee  may  every  pouring  cloud  desert 

‘Abid,  and  Jawshan’s heights,  and  Bityas’  knoll!127 
How  many  a  pasture  there  for  eye  and  heart, 

Where  all  desires  are  quenched  with  brimming  bowl, 

The  while  its  birds  make  song  with  joyous  art 
And  swaying  branches  each  with  each  enroll, 

And  Shahba/s  soaring  height,128  that  seems  engirt 
with  all  the  stars  of  heaven  from  pole  to  pole ! 

(Resumes.)  At  Aleppo  resides  the  Malik  al-’Umara,  Arghun 
Dawadar,129  who  is  the  highest  officer  under  al-Malik  al- 
Nasir.  He  is  also  a  trained  legist  and  noted  for  his  equitable 
judgments,  but  he  is  close-fisted.  The  qadis  at  Aleppo  are 
four  in  number,  one  for  each  of  the  four  rites.  One  of  them 
[before  the  time  of  my  visit  was]  the  qadi  Kamal  al-Din 

157  Ibn  |  al-Zimlikani,130  a  Shaffii  in  rite,  and  a  man  of  lofty 
aspirations,  highly  esteemed,  magnanimous  and  of  noble 
character,  as  well  as  versatile  in  his  knowledge.  Al-Malik 
al-Nasir  had  [afterwards]  sent  for  him,  in  order  to  instal  him 
as  Chief  Qadi  in  the  capital  of  his  kingdom,  but  that  was  not 
decreed  for  him  and  he  died  at  Bilbais  as  he  was  on  his  way  to 

126  See  p.  91,  n.  93.  The  first  line  is  a  conventional  opening,  and  has 
apparently  no  direct  connexion  with  the  following  lines. 

127  ‘Abld  is  mentioned  in  contemporary  works  as  a  pleasure  garden  near 
the  city.  Jawshan  is  the  name  of  the  ridge  forming  the  south-western  rim 
of  the  bowl  in  which  Aleppo  is  situated.  For  Bityas  see  p.  98,  n.  120. 

128  See  p.  95,  n.  105. 

129  See  p.  54,  n.  168.  Arghun  left  Cairo  to  take  up  his  post  as  governor  of 
Aleppo  on  8  December  1326  (when  Ibn  Battuta  was  in  Arabia).  He  died  in 
office  there  on  30  December  1330,  and  was  succeeded  as  governor  by  ‘Ala 
al-Din  Altunbugha  (Zettersteen,  177,  183). 

130  Muhammad  b.  ‘All  al-Ansari,  known  as  Ibn  al-Zimlikani  (1269-1327), 
was  reputed  to  be  the  best  scholar  of  his  age.  He  was  appointed  Chief  Qadi 
at  Aleppo  in  1324. 


100 


ALEPPO 


Cairo.  When  he  was  appointed  to  the  qadl-ship  of  Aleppo,  the 
poets  from  Damascus  and  other  parts  came  to  congratulate 
him,  and  amongst  those  who  did  so  was  the  poet  of  Syria, 
Shihab  al-Din  Abu  Bakr  Muhammad,  son  of  the  shaikh  and 
traditionalist  Shams  al-Din  Abu  ‘Abdallah  Muhammad  b. 
Nubata,  of  Qurashite  and  Umayyad  descent,  and  of  May- 
yafariqln  by  origin,131  who  eulogized  him  in  a  lengthy  and 
polished  ode,  beginning: 

Jilliq  al-Faiha'  mourns  thy  departure,  and  al-Shahba’  has 
rejoiced  at  thy  coming.132 1 

O'er  Damascus,  now  thou  art  gone,  reigns  a  sadness,  but  o'er  158 
the  hills  of  Halab  reigns  a  glittering  splendour. 

Brightly  shines  an  abode  in  whose  court  thou  hast  dwelt,  even 
as  a  morn  that  comes  with  glister  in  its  light. 

O  wanderer,  who  seekest  noble  qualities  and  highest  deeds, 
from  one  beside  whom  even  the  generous  seem  as  misers — 
Here  is  Kama!  al-Din,  seek  shelter  in  his  protection;  ease 
shalt  thou  find,  for  there  are  virtue  and  beneficence, 

Judge  of  judges,  most  illustrious  of  those  in  whose  days  the 
orphans  and  the  poor  are  freed  from  want — 

A  judge  pure  in  root  and  branch,  who  has  climbed  to  the 
heights,  through  whom  fathers  and  sons  are  ennobled. 

The  Lord  hath  shown  favour  by  him  to  the  sons  of  Aleppo— 
to  God  is  bestowal  of  bounty  whereso  He  will.  | 

His  understanding  and  eloquence  have  unveiled  the  obscured,  159 
so  brilliant  is  that  sagacity  that  it  is  as  the  rising  sun. 

O  chief  of  magistrates,  thy  merit  is  too  pre-eminent  for  lofty 
rank  to  give  thee  pleasure. 

All  offices  come  short  of  thy  loftiness  of  mind,  whose  station 
overtops  Orion  in  excellence. 

To  thee  belong  far-famed  virtues  in  the  sciences,  as  the  dawn 
whose  light  cleaves  the  darkness, 

And  goodly  deeds,  to  whose  excellence  even  the  enemy  bears 
witness — and  excellence  indeed  is  that  which  even  enemies 
attest. 

131  Jamal  al-Din  (not  Shihab  al-Din)  Ibn  Nubata,  ‘the  standard-bearer  of 
poetry  in  his  age’  (1287-1366). 

182  Jilliq  stands  for  Damascus;  see  p.  120,  n.  194.  Al-Faiha  ,  ‘the  widely 
extending’,  is  another  poetical  term  for  Damascus,  corresponding  to  al- 
Shahba  for  Aleppo,  al-Zawra’  for  Baghdad  (cf.  p.  95,  n.  105,  and  p.  121, 
n.  198),  al-Hadba  for  Mosul,  and  similar  epithets. 

IOI 


SYRIA 


The  whole  poem  is  more  than  fifty  verses  long,  and  al- 
Zimlikanl  rewarded  him  for  it  with  a  robe  and  some  money, 
although  the  poets  criticized  him  for  beginning  the  poem 
with  the  word  ‘mourns'.  | 

160  Ibn  Juzayy  remarks:  His  choice  of  language  in  this  ode  is 
not  much  thought  of,  and  he  shows  his  talent  to  better 
advantage  in  short  occasional  pieces  than  in  his  odes.  To  him 
has  devolved  the  headship  in  poetry  throughout  the  East  in 
our  own  day.  He  is  a  descendant  of  the  preacher  Abu  Yahya 
‘Abd  al-Rahlm  ibn  Nubata,  the  author  of  the  celebrated  dis¬ 
courses.133  The  following  poem  gives  an  example  of  the 
exquisite  art  of  his  fragments,  illustrating  the  figure  of 
concealed  allusion: 

I  loved  her,  so  lithe,  and  endowed  with  such  grace, 

But  of  heartache  and  anguish  how  reckless ! 

Since  her  pearls  she  begrudged  to  a  lover’s  embrace, 

What  she  grudged  she  now  wears  as  a  necklace ! 

(Resumes.)  Among  the  qadis  of  Aleppo  is  the  Chief  QadI  of 
the  Hanafi  school,  the  imam  and  professor  Nasir  al-Dln  Ibn 
al-‘Ad!m,  a  man  of  fine  figure  and  character,  belonging  to  an 
old-established  and  noble  family  in  the  city  of  Aleppo.134 1 

161  With  smiling  face,  unclouded  brow, 

Whene’er  thou  seek’st  him,  he  receives  thee. 

As  if  he  were  the  suppliant,  thou 
The  donor  of  the  boon  he  gives  thee. 

Besides  these  there  is  the  Chief  QadI  of  the  Malik!  school, 
whom  I  will  not  mention — he  was  a  notary  at  Cairo  and 

133  ‘Abd  al-Rahim  ibn  Nubata  (d.  984)  was  a  preacher  at  the  court  of  Saif 
al-Dawla  at  Aleppo,  and  acquired  lasting  fame  by  the  elegance  and  variety 
of  his  discourses  in  rhyming  prose.  The  ‘concealed  allusion’  in  the  follow¬ 
ing  verses  is  to  Qur’an,  iii,  175-6:  ‘Let  not  those  who  are  niggardly  with 
what  God  hath  given  them  of  His  bounty  think  that  it  is  better  for  them — 
nay  it  shall  be  worse  for  them!  They  shall  have  that  whereof  they  were 
niggardly  fastened  upon  their  necks  on  the  Day  of  Resurrection.’ 

134  Abu  ‘Abdallah  Muhammad  b.  Kamal  al-Din  ‘Omar  (1290-1351),  suc¬ 
ceeded  his  father  as  Hanafi  Chief  QadI  in  1321,  and  was  succeeded  in  turn 
by  his  son  Jamal  al-Din  Ibrahim.  The  family  of  Ibn  al-'Adim  had  a  long 
tradition  as  qadis  in  Aleppo,  and  amongst  them  an  earlier  Kamal  al-Din 
‘Omar  (1191-1262)  became  famous  as  the  historian  of  Aleppo.  See  the 
genealogical  tree  in  Les  biographies  du  Manhal  Safi,  by  G.  Wiet  (Cairo, 
1932),  65. 


102 


ANTIOCH 


obtained  this  office  without  any  qualifications — and  the  Chief 
QadI  of  the  Hanbalites,  whose  name  I  do  not  remember;  he 
belonged  to  al-Salihlya  [in  the  neighbourhood]  of  Damascus. 
The  Marshal  of  the  Sharifs135  at  Aleppo  is  Badr  al-Dln  Ibn 
al-Zahra/,  and  among  the  jurists  there  is  Sharaf  al-Din  Ibn 
al-‘  Aj  ami,  whose  relatives  are  notables  of  the  city  of  Aleppo.136 

Then  I  journeyed  from  there  to  the  town  of  Tlzln,  which 
lies  on  the  Qinnasrin  road.137  It  is  a  recent  place,  occupied  by 
Turkmens;  its  bazaars  are  good  and  its  mosques  are  of  the 
utmost  perfection.  The  qadi  of  the  town  is  Badr  al-Din  al- 
‘Asqalanl.  The  city  |  of  Qinnasrin  was  formerly  an  important  162 
place,  and  of  ancient  establishment,  but  it  fell  subsequently 
into  ruins,  and  nothing  but  vestiges  of  it  now  remain. 

I  then  travelled  to  the  town  of  Antakiya  [Antioch],  which 
is  a  great  and  eminent  city.  It  was  formerly  protected  by  a 
mighty  wall,  which  had  no  equal  among  the  city  walls  of 
Syria,  but  al-Malik  al-Zahir  [Baibars],  when  he  captured  it, 
pulled  its  wall  down.138  Antakiya  is  densely  populated,  and 
its  buildings  are  well  constructed;  it  has  an  abundance  of 
trees  and  water,  and  the  river  'As!  [flows  past  it],  outside  the 
city.  Within  it  is  the  tomb  of  Habib  the  Carpenter139  (God  be 
pleased  with  him),  by  which  there  is  a  religious  house  where 
food  is  supplied  to  all  comers.  The  shaikh  of  this  establish¬ 
ment  is  the  pious  and  aged  Muhammad  b.  ‘All,  whose  age 
exceeds  a  hundred,  although  he  is  still  in  enjoyment  of  his 
forces.  I  once  visited  him  in  a  garden  of  his  and  [found  that] 
he  had  been  gathering  firewood  and  had  hoisted  the  load  on 

135  por  -(-^e  marshal  ( naqlb )  of  the  Sharifs,  see  below  p.  258,  n.  50. 
Badr  al-Din  Hasan  b.  Muhammad  al-Hasani  died  in  1331  ( Durar ,  II,  38). 

136  The  family  of  Ibn  al-‘Ajami  produced  a  long  line  of  scholars  and  jurists. 

Its  head  at  this  time  was  ‘Izz  al-Din  Ibrahim  b.  Salih  (d.  1331),  who  may 
have  been  the  father  of  Sharaf  al-Din. 

137  Tizin,  twenty-eight  miles  west  of  Aleppo,  was  one  of  a  group  of  forti¬ 
fied  villages  facing  Antioch  during  the  Crusades,  and  was  resettled  by 
Turkmens.  The  statement  that  it  was  on  the  Qinnasrin  road  is  an  error,  as 
Qinnasrin  (the  ancient  Chalcis)  lay  south-east  of  Aleppo,  on  the  Hamah 
road.  After  the  Arab  conquest  in  the  seventh  century  it  was  made  the 
administrative  capital  of  northern  Syria,  but  fell  into  decay  in  the  tenth 
century. 

138  Antioch  was  captured  by  the  Mamluk  sultan  Baibars  in  1268. 

139  Habib  the  Carpenter  is  a  personage  identified  with  an  unnamed  martyr 
for  the  faith  whose  story  is  told  in  the  Qur’an  (Sura  xxxvi,  19).  The  tomb 
was  famous  throughout  the  Middle  Ages  (see  Le  Strange,  Palestine,  375-7; 
and  E.I.,  s.v.)  and  is  still  venerated. 

103 


SYRIA 


his  shoulders  to  take  it  to  his  house  in  the  town.  I  saw  his  son 
also,  who  was  over  eighty,  but  so  humpbacked  that  he  was 

163  unable  to  rise.  Anyone  who  |  saw  them  would  think  that  of  the 
two  the  father  was  the  son  and  the  son  the  father. 

Thereafter  I  journeyed  to  the  castle  of  Bughras,  which  is  a 
forbidding  and  impregnable  fortress,  surrounded  by  orchards 
and  fields.140  It  stands  at  the  entrance  to  the  land  of  Sis,  the 
country  of  the  infidel  Armenians.141  These  are  subjects  of 
al-Malik  al-Nasir,  paying  him  a  tribute,  and  their  dirhams,  of 
pure  silver,  are  known  by  the  name  of  baghlis ,142  In  their 
land  are  manufactured  the  fabrics  called  dabilt(?).li3  The 
governor  of  this  castle  is  Sarim  al-Dln  Ibn  al-Shaibam;  he  has 
a  worthy  son  called  ‘Ala/  al-Dln  and  a  brother’s  son  named 
Husam  al-Dln,  a  worthy  and  generous  man,  who  lives  at  the 
place  known  as  al-Rusus  and  guards  the  road  leading  to  the 
country  of  the  Armenians. 

Anecdote.  The  Armenians  once  complained  of  the  amir 

164  Husam  |  al-Dln  to  al-Malik  al-Nasir  and  falsely  accused  him 
of  unbecoming  conduct,  whereupon  he  dispatched  an  order  to 
the  Amir  al-Umara  at  Aleppo  to  have  him  strangled.  When 
the  order  had  been  sent  off,  it  reached  the  ears  of  a  friend  of 
his,  one  of  the  principal  amirs,  who  came  before  al-Malik 
al-Nasir  and  said  ‘Sire,  truly  the  amir  Husam  al-Dln  is  one  of 
the  best  of  the  amirs,  loyally  serving  the  interests  of  the 
Muslims  and  guarding  the  road;  moreover,  he  is  a  valiant 
warrior,  and  the  Armenians  desire  to  ravage  the  lands  of  the 
Muslims,  but  he  stands  in  their  way  and  holds  them  in  sub¬ 
jection,  and  their  true  object  [in  bringing  these  accusations 

140  Baghras  (as  it  is  usually  spelled)  was  the  fortress  of  Pagrae,  built  by 
the  Greek  emperor  Nicephorus  Phocas  in  968  during  his  siege  of  Antioch, 
and  frequently  reconstructed.  It  defended  the  entry  to  Syria  through  the 
Beylan  Pass,  south-east  of  Alexandretta.  In  the  Crusades,  it  was  called 
Gaston  or  Gastin,  and  was  recaptured  by  Saladin  in  1188. 

141  The  kingdom  of  Sis  or  ‘Little  Armenia’  was  founded  by  the  Armenian 
Rupenid  princes  in  Cilicia  at  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  remained 
more  or  less  in  alliance  with  the  Crusaders  at  Antioch  until  its  capture  by 
Baibars,  when  it  was  invaded  by  the  Mamluks  and  became  tributary  (under 
pressure  of  repeated  campaigns)  to  the  Mamluk  sultans. 

142  The  baghli  dirham  was  the  name  given  from  the  earliest  Arab  period  to 
the  high-weight  silver  dirham  of  the  Persian  type  (J.  Walker,  Catalogue  of 
the  Arab-Sassanian  Coins  in  the  B.M.  (London,  1941),  cxlviii).  The  origin 
of  the  term  is  variously  (but  doubtfully)  explained. 

143  MS  readings  corrupt.  Dabil  (Dvin)  was  a  former  capital  of  Armenia. 

IO4 


BAGHRAS  TO  SAHYUN 


against  him]  is  to  weaken  the  military  power  of  the  Muslims 
by  having  him  put  to  death’.  He  continued  thus  [to  plead  his 
cause]  before  him,  until  at  length  al-Malik  al-Nasir  dis¬ 
patched  a  second  order  to  release  him,  bestow  a  robe  of 
honour  upon  him  and  return  him  to  his  post.  Al-Malik  al- 
Nasir  summoned  a  courier  known  as  al-Aqush,  who  was  never 
sent  out  except  on  important  business,  and  bade  him  make 
haste  and  exert  himself  on  his  journey.  He  made  the  ride 
from  Cairo  |  to  Aleppo  in  five  nights,  although  it  is  a  month’s  165 
journey  [in  the  usual  way],  and  found  that  the  governor  of 
Aleppo  had  summoned  Husam  al-Dln  and  had  conveyed  him 
to  the  place  in  which  persons  are  strangled.  Thus  God  Most 
High  delivered  him  and  he  returned  to  his  post.  I  met  this 
amir  [Husam  al-Dln] ,  who  had  with  him  the  qadi  of  Bughras, 
Sharaf  al-Dln  al-HamawI,  in  a  place  known  as  al-'Amq, 
which  lies  between  Antakiya,  Tizln  and  Bughras,  and  is 
occupied  by  Turkmens  with  their  animals  on  account  of  its 
fertile  pasturage  and  extent.144 

I  continued  my  journey  to  the  castle  of  al-Qusair,  which  is 
a  fine  fortress.145  Its  commander  is  'Ala’  al-Dln  al-Kurdl  and 
its  qadi  Shihab  al-Dln  of  Armant  in  Egypt.  I  went  on  next  to 
the  castle  of  al-Shughr-bukas,  a  forbidding  fortress  on  |  the  166 
summit  of  a  lofty  hill.146  Its  commander  is  Saif  al-Dln 
Altuntash,  a  worthy  man,  and  its  qadi  is  Jamal  al-Dln  Ibn 
Shajara,  one  of  the  disciples  of  Ibn  Taimlya. 

I  then  journeyed  to  the  town  of  Sahyun,  a  fine  place,  with 
perennial  streams  and  leafy  trees,  and  possessing  an  excellent 
citadel.147  Its  governor  is  known  by  the  name  of  al-Ibrahlml, 

144  Al-‘Amq  is  the  ‘Plain  of  Antioch’  now  called  the  ‘Amuq,  lying  between 
the  Orontes  to  the  west,  the  ranges  of  al-‘Ala  and  Barisha  to  the  south  and 
south-east  and  the  Afrln  river  and  Lake  of  Antioch  to  the  north  (see  R. 
Dussaud,  Topographie  historique  de  la  Syrie,  228—31). 

145  Qusair,  the  diminutive  of  qasr,  ‘fortress’,  was  in  the  Nusairl  mountains 
(Jebel  Ansariye)  to  the  south  of  Antioch.  It  was  reconstructed  by  the 
Crusaders  in  the  thirteenth  century,  under  the  name  of  Cursat,  and  captured 
by  Baibars  in  1275.  The  site  is  now  called  Qal’at  al-Zaw  (Dussaud,  429). 

146  A  double  fortress  separated  by  a  cleft  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Orontes 
above  its  entry  into  the  defile  of  Darkush.  It  was  built  by  the  Crusaders 
in  the  twelfth  century  and  captured  by  Saladin  in  1188  (Dussaud,  Topo¬ 
graphie,  156  ff.). 

147  The  castle  is  famous  in  crusading  history  under  the  name  of  Saone:  see 
R.  Fedden,  Crusader  Castles  (London,  1950).  It  also  was  captured  by 
Saladin  in  1188. 


105 


SYRIA 


and  its  qadi  is  Muhyi  al-Dln  of  Hims.  Outside  the  town  there 
is  a  religious  house  set  in  a  garden,  at  which  food  is  supplied 
to  all  comers.  It  is  by  the  tomb  of  the  pious  devotee  ‘Isa 
al-Badawi  (God's  mercy  on  him),  and  I  paid  a  visit  to  his 
grave.148 

I  continued  my  journey  from  there  and  passed  by  the 
castle  of  al-Qadmus,  the  castle  of  al-Mainaqa,  the  castle  of 
al-'Ullaiqa,  the  castle  of  Masyaf,  and  the  castle  of  al-Kahf.149 
These  castles  belong  to  a  sect  called  the  Isma/Illya,  known 
167  also  as  |  the  Fidawlya,  and  none  may  visit  them  there  save 
members  of  their  sect.150  They  are  the  arrows  of  al-Malik 
al-Nasir,  by  means  of  whom  he  strikes  down  those  of  his 
enemies  who  take  refuge  from  him  in  al-Traq  and  other  lands, 
and  they  receive  fixed  emoluments.  When  the  sultan  desires 
to  send  one  of  them  to  assassinate  some  foe  of  his,  he  pays 
him  his  blood-money.  If  he  escapes  after  carrying  out  what  is 
desired  of  him,  the  money  is  his,  but  if  he  is  caught  it  goes  to 
his  children.  They  have  poisoned  knives,  with  which  they 
strike  the  victim  of  their  mission,  but  sometimes  their  devices 
do  not  succeed  and  they  themselves  are  killed.  This  hap¬ 
pened  to  them  for  example,  in  the  case  of  the  amir  Qara- 
sunqur.151  When  he  fled  to  al-Traq,  al-Malik  al-Nasir  sent  a 
number  of  them  to  [assassinate]  him,  but  they  were  all  killed 

148  Not  identified. 

149  Four  of  the  castles  of  the  Isma'ilis  were  situated  in  the  interior  of  the 
J.  Ansariye,  to  the  east  of  Banyas  (Bulunyas)  and  Tortosa.  The  order  from 
north  to  south  is  al-Maniqa  (as  it  is  usually  spelled),  al-‘Ullaiqa,  Qadmus, 
and  al-Kahf.  Masyath  or  Masyaf  is  on  the  eastern  slope  of  the  mountains, 
directly  to  the  west  of  Hamah.  They  were  constructed  (some  of  them  on 
older,  usually  Byzantine  foundations)  by  the  head  of  the  Syrian  ‘Assassins’, 
Rashid  al-Dln  Sinan  (known  to  the  Crusaders  as  ‘the  Old  Man  of  the  Moun¬ 
tains’)  in  the  twelfth  century. 

160  The  Fidals  or  Fiddwls  (those  who  sacrifice  themselves)  were  the  active 
members  of  the  Isma'ili  sect,  generally  known  as  the  Assassins  (see  E.I.,  s.v.), 
founded  at  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century  by  the  Persian  Hasan-i  Sabbah 
as  a  dissident  Fatimid  sect,  which  maintained  a  reign  of  terror  in  north 
Persia  (until  their  fortresses  were  captured  by  the  Mongol  Hulagu  in  1256) 
and  in  north  Syria.  From  Ibn  Battuta’s  account,  corroborated  by  other 
sources,  it  is  obvious  that  by  this  time  the  Syrian  ‘Assassins’  had  become 
secret  agents  of  the  Mamluk  sultans.  See  B.  Lewis,  ‘The  Isma'ilites  and  the 
Assassins’  in  A  History  of  the  Crusaders,  I  (Philadelphia,  1955),  chap.  iv. 

151  Qarasunqur,  a  mamluk  of  Sultan  Qala’un,  played  a  leading  part  in  the 
political  intrigues  in  Egypt  after  his  death,  and  became  one  of  the  chief 
supporters  of  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  who  appointed  him  to  the  government  of 
Damascus,  and  subsequently  (in  1311)  to  Aleppo.  His  flight,  recounted  with 

I06 


THE  ASSASSINS 


and  could  do  nothing  against  him  owing  to  his  prudent 
measures. 

Anecdote.  Qarasunqur  was  one  of  the  great  amirs,  and  he 
was  one  of  those  who  were  present  at  and  had  a  hand  in 
the  murder  of  al-Malik  |  al-Ashraf,  the  brother  of  al-Malik  168 
al-Nasir.  When  the  kingdom  was  secured  to  al-Malik  al-Nasir, 
and  he  became  firmly  established  in  power  and  the  stays  of  his 
authority  were  strengthened,  he  began  to  pursue  the  mur¬ 
derers  of  the  brother  and  to  kill  them  one  by  one,  ostensibly 
to  take  vengeance  for  his  brother,  and  in  fear  lest  they  should 
make  bold  to  deal  with  him  as  they  had  ventured  to  deal  with 
his  brother.  Now  Qarasunqur  was  Amir  al-Umara  at  Aleppo. 
Al-Malik  al-Nasir  therefore  sent  letters  to  all  the  amirs 
[under  Qarasunqur's  command],  bidding  them  call  their 
troops,  and  appointed  a  time  and  place  for  them  to  assemble 
near  Aleppo,  and  attack  the  city  in  order  to  seize  him.  When 
they  acted  upon  these  instructions,  Qarasunqur  saw  that  his 
life  was  in  danger,  and,  as  he  had  with  him  eight  hundred 
mamluks,  he  mounted  at  their  head  and  sallied  out  in  the 
early  morning  against  the  united  hosts,  cut  his  way  through 
them,  and  outdistanced  them,  |  though  they  numbered  169 
twenty  thousand  men.  He  made  for  the  encampment  of  the 
amir  of  the  Arabs,  Muhanna  b.  'Isa,152  which  was  two  days' 
journey  from  Aleppo.  Muhanna  was  away  on  a  hunt  of  his,  so 
Qarasunqur  sought  out  his  tent,  and  having  alighted  from  his 
horse  cast  his  turban  round  his  own  neck  and  cried  'Protec¬ 
tion,  0  amir  of  the  Arabs!'  Umm  Fadl,  the  wife  of  Muhanna 
and  daughter  of  his  uncle,  was  there,  and  she  replied  to  him: 
'We  grant  thee  protection  and  we  grant  it  to  those  who  are 
with  thee.'  He  said  'I  desire  only  my  children  and  my 
treasure',  whereupon  she  answered  'Thou  shalt  have  what 
thou  wilt;  alight  therefore  under  our  protection’.  He  did  so, 
and  Muhanna  on  his  return  entertained  him  generously  and 
put  his  own  wealth  at  his  disposal.  But  Qarasunqur  said:  'I 

some  romantic  detail  by  Ibn  Battuta,  followed  a  few  months  later:  see 
L.  A.  Mayer,  Saracenic  Heraldry ,  183-4. 

162  Chief  of  the  A1  Fadl,  a  branch  of  the  Tayy  Arabs,  who  supported  the 
Mamluks  against  the  Mongols,  and  were  rewarded  with  rich  fiefs  in  Syria: 
see  A.  S.  Tritton,  ‘The  tribes  of  Syria  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries’,  BSOAS,  London,  XII  (1948),  567  ff.;  and  the  genealogical 
table  in  G.  Wiet,  Les  biographies  du  Manhal  Safi,  no.  1774. 

107 


SYRIA 


desire  only  my  household  and  my  treasure  which  I  left  in 
Aleppo/  Thereupon  Muhanna  summoned  his  brothers  and  his 
cousins,  and  consulted  them  on  the  matter.  There  were  some 
who  consented  to  Qarasunqur's  request  and  there  were  some 
who  said  to  him:  'How  can  we  fight  against  al-Malik  al-Nasir 
when  we  are  in  his  lands'  in  Syria?'  Then  Muhanna  said  to 

170  them:  'As  for  |  me,  I  shall  do  for  this  man  what  he  asks,  and  I 
shall  go  with  him  to  the  Sultan  of  al-'Iraq/  Meanwhile  news 
was  brought  to  them  that  Qarasunqur's  children  had  been  dis¬ 
patched  to  Cairo  by  the  post-service,  and  Muhanna  said  to 
him:  'For  your  children  there  is  nothing  we  can  do,  but  your 
treasure  we  shall  do  our  best  to  recover/  He  then  rode  out 
with  those  of  his  household  who  consented  to  his  plan,  and 
called  to  arms  about  twenty-five  thousand  of  the  Arabs.  They 
marched  on  Aleppo,  burned  the  gate  of  the  citadel,  gained 
possession  of  it,  and  fetched  out  from  it  Qarasunqur's  treasure 
and  the  remaining  members  of  his  family,  without  laying  a 
hand  on  anything  else. 

[This  done]  they  made  to  join  the  king  of  al-'Iraq,  accom¬ 
panied  by  al-Afram,  the  governor  of  Hims,153  and  reached  the 
king  Muhammad  Khudabanda,  the  Sultan  of  al-'Iraq,  when 
he  was  in  his  summer  quarters  at  a  place  called  Qarabagh154  | 

171  which  is  between  al-Sultanlya  and  Tabriz.  He  received  them 
hospitably,  and  assigned  to  Muhanna  ‘Iraq  al-'Arab,  to 
Qarasunqur  the  city  of  Maragha  which  is  sometimes  called 
‘Little  Damascus'  in  'Iraq  al-'Ajam,155  and  to  al-Afram  he 
assigned  Hamadan.  They  remained  with  him  for  some  time, 
during  which  al-Afram  died156  and  Muhanna  returned  to  [his 
allegiance  to]  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  having  first  obtained  from 
him  guarantees  and  undertakings  [that  his  conduct  would  be 
overlooked].  Qarasunqur  stayed  as  he  was,  and  al-Malik 
al-Nasir  continued  to  send  the  Fidawls  against  him  time  after 

153  Aqush  al-Afram,  a  former  governor  of  Damascus,  had  been  governor 
of  Tripoli  (not  of  Hims)  when,  for  similar  reasons,  he  joined  Qarasunqur  in 
his  flight. 

154  Qarabagh,  the  highlands  to  the  west  of  Barda'a,  in  Adharbaijan  was 
a  regular  summer  resort  of  the  Mongol  rulers. 

155  ‘Iraq  al-'Ajam  (or  ‘Iraq  ‘Ajami),  ‘Persian  Iraq’,  was  the  name  given  at 
this  time  to  the  province  formerly  called  al-Jibal,  the  ancient  Media,  in  con¬ 
trast  to  the  Plain  of  the  Two  Rivers,  called  ‘Iraq  al-‘Arab. 

156  He  died  in  April  1316;  Muhanna’s  reconciliation  with  the  Sultan  of 
Egypt  was  probably  in  the  following  year.  He  died  in  1334  or  1335. 

I08 


J ABALA 

time.  Some  of  them  gained  entrance  to  him  in  his  house,  but 
were  killed  before  reaching  him;  others  hurled  themselves 
upon  him  as  he  was  riding,  and  were  struck  down  by  him. 
Altogether  a  considerable  number  of  the  Fidawls  lost  their 
lives  through  him.  He  used  never  to  leave  off  his  coat  of  mail, 
and  never  slept  except  in  a  room  built  of  wood  and  iron. 
When,  however,  |  the  Sultan  Muhammad  died  and  his  son  172 
Abu  Sa'Id  succeeded  [in  1316]  there  occurred  the  affair  of 
al-Juban,  the  chief  of  his  amirs,  which  we  shall  relate  below,157 
and  the  flight  of  the  latter’s  son  al-Dumurtash  to  al-Malik 
al-Nasir.  Negotiations  were  opened  between  al-Malik  al- 
Nasir  and  Abu  Sadd,  and  they  reached  an  agreement  that 
Abu  Sadd  would  send  to  al-Malik  al-Nasir  the  head  of 
Qarasunqur,  and  that  al-Malik  al-Nasir  would  send  him 
the  head  of  al-Dumurtash.  Al-Malik  al-Nasir  accordingly 
sent  the  head  of  al-Dumurtash  to  Abu  Sadd,  and  on  its 
arrival  he  gave  orders  to  bring  Qarasunqur  before  him. 
Qarasunqur,  on  learning  this,  took  a  ring  of  his,  which  was 
hollowed  out  and  contained  a  deadly  poison,  wrenched  off  its 
stone,  swallowed  the  poison  and  died  on  the  spot.  Abu  Sadd 
informed  al-Malik  al-Nasir  of  this,  but  did  not  send  him  his 
head.158 

I  then  journeyed  from  the  castles  of  the  Fidawls  to  the 
town  of  Jabala,  |  a  place  of  perennial  streams  and  trees,  and  173 
about  a  mile  distant  from  the  sea.159  It  contains  the  tomb  of 
the  pious  and  celebrated  saint  Ibrahim  ibn  Ad’ham  (God  be 
pleased  with  him),  he  who  renounced  the  kingly  state  and 
consecrated  himself  to  God  Most  High,  as  all  the  world  knows. 
But  Ibrahim  was  not  of  royal  lineage,  as  most  people  imagine; 
he  inherited  the  kingdom  from  his  maternal,  not  his  paternal, 
grandfather.  His  father  Ad’ham  was  one  of  the  pious  wander- 

157  Vol.  II,  pp.  117-20,  of  the  Arabic  text. 

158  Dumurtash  or  Dumurdash  arrived  in  Cairo  on  20  January  1328,  fol¬ 
lowed  by  the  envoys  of  Abu  Sa'id  less  than  a  month  later.  Dumurtash  was 
executed  on  11  August,  and  Qarasunqur’s  death  occurred  on  3  September 
(Zettersteen,  179-80);  but  the  other  sources  do  not  directly  connect  these 
events  or  state  that  Qarasunqur  died  by  poison. 

159  J  abala  is  a  township  with  a  small  harbour,  midway  between  Latakiya 
and  Banyas.  If  Ibn  Battuta’s  statement  that  it  was  a  mile  from  the  sea  is  to 
be  taken  literally,  it  would  seem  that  the  town  had  been  temporarily  moved 
inland  for  protection  from  Christian  raiders.  He  can  in  any  case  hardly  have 
made  his  journey  in  the  order  here  described. 

IO9 


SYRIA 


ing  mendicants,  who  give  themselves  up  to  devotions,  and 
live  in  abstinence,  cut  off  from  the  world.160 

The  story  of  Ad’ ham.  It  is  related  that  he  passed  one  day- 
through  the  gardens  of  the  city  of  Bukhara  and  had  made  his 
ablutions  in  one  of  the  canals  which  traverse  them,  when  he 
saw  an  apple  being  carried  along  by  the  current  of  the 
stream.  Saying  to  himself  This  is  absolutely  valueless',  he 
ate  it.  But  later  on  there  arose  in  his  mind  some  scruple  at 
what  he  had  done,  and  he  determined  to  ask  pardon  of  the 

174  owner  of  the  orchard,  and  knocked  at  its  gate.  |  A  slave-girl 
came  out  to  him,  and  he  bade  her  call  the  owner  of  the 
dwelling.  When  she  informed  him  that  it  belonged  to  a 
woman,  he  said,  ‘Ask  permission  for  me  to  come  to  herb  She 
did  so,  and  Ad'ham  told  the  woman  the  story  of  the  apple. 
She  said  to  him  ‘This  orchard  belongs  half  to  me  and  half  to 
the  Sultan'  (the  Sultan  being  then  at  Balkh,  which  is  ten 
nights'  journey  from  Bukhara),  and  absolved  him  as  far  as  her 
half  was  concerned.  He  went  on  to  Balkh,  and  [there]  the 
Sultan  with  all  his  suite  happened  to  cross  his  path.  He  told 
him  the  story  and  begged  for  his  pardon,  and  was  bidden  to 
return  to  him  on  the  morrow. 

Now  the  Sultan  had  a  daughter  of  surpassing  beauty,  who 
had  been  sought  in  marriage  by  the  sons  of  kings,  but  she 
obstinately  remained  virgin,  taking  pleasure  [only]  in  re¬ 
ligious  exercises  and  an  inclination  towards  pious  devotees, 
for  it  was  her  desire  to  marry  some  ascetic  who  scorned  the 
things  of  this  world.  When  the  Sultan  returned  to  his  abode, 
he  told  his  daughter  the  story  of  Ad'ham,  and  added,  ‘I  have 
never  seen  a  more  God-fearing  man  than  this — he  comes 

175  from  Bukhara  |  to  Balkh  for  the  sake  of  half  an  apple'.  She 
at  once  expressed  a  desire  to  marry  him,  so  when  Ad'ham 
came  to  him  the  following  day,  the  Sultan  said  to  him,  ‘I  shall 
not  absolve  you  unless  you  marry  my  daughter'.  He  sub¬ 
mitted  to  this  condition  after  some  opposition  and  resistance, 

160  Ibrahim  b.  Ad’ham  (d.  about  780)  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most 
celebrated  saints  of  Islam.  He  is  represented  generally  as  the  son  of  one  of 
the  ‘kings’  of  the  region  of  Balkh,  and  as  having  renounced  his  rank  and 
adopted  the  ascetic  life,  but  his  life  has  received  many  legendary  accretions 
from  the  Buddhistic  legend  of  Barlaam  and  Josaphat  (see  E.I.,  s.v.).  The 
source  of  Ibn  Battuta’s  statement  and  story  of  his  father  has  not  been 
traced. 


110 


THE  STORY  OF  AD’hAM 

and  was  married  to  her.  When  he  entered  her  chamber,  he 
found  her  decked  in  bridal  finery,  and  the  room  also  adorned 
with  carpets  and  other  furnishings,  and  retiring  to  a  corner 
of  the  room  he  set  to  his  prayers  [and  kept  on  praying]  until 
morning.  He  continued  to  do  this  during  all  the  nights  of  the 
bridal  week.  Meanwhile  the  Sultan  had  withheld  his  absolu¬ 
tion,  and  when  Ad’ham  sent  to  him  to  grant  it,  he  replied  ‘I 
shall  not  absolve  you  until  your  cohabitation  with  your  wife 
takes  place’.  That  night  therefore  he  lay  with  her,  and  then, 
after  making  a  complete  ablution,  he  prepared  to  begin  his 
prayers,  when  he  gave  a  cry,  prostrated  himself  on  his 
prayer-mat,  and  was  found  dead — God  have  mercy  on  him. 
The  princess,  however,  conceived  by  him  and  bore  Ibrahim, 
and  as  his  grandfather  had  no  son,  |  he  assigned  the  kingdom  176 
to  him.  After  that  came  the  incident  of  his  divesting  himself 
of  the  kingship,  according  to  the  well-known  story. 

By  the  tomb  of  Ibrahim  b.  Ad’ham  there  is  a  fine  religious 
house,  containing  a  water-pool,  and  at  which  food  is  served 
to  all  comers.  Its  intendant  is  Ibrahim  al-Jumahl,  one  of  the 
most  notable  devotees.  The  people  come  to  visit  this  convent 
on  the  night  of  mid-Sha'ban  from  all  parts  of  Syria  and  stay 
there  for  three  nights.161  [At  the  same  time]  there  is  held  at 
this  place,  but  outside  the  town,  a  great  fair,  in  which  there 
is  something  of  every  kind.  Poor  brethren  who  have  re¬ 
nounced  the  world  come  from  all  quarters  to  take  part  in  this 
festival.  Every  person  who  comes  on  visitation  to  this  tomb 
gives  a  candle  to  its  intendant,  with  the  result  that  many 
hundredweights  are  collected. 

The  majority  of  the  people  of  these  coasts  compose  the  sect 
of  the  Nusairlya,162  who  hold  the  belief  that  'All  b.  Abl 
Talib  is  a  god.  They  do  not  pray  [the  ritual  prayers],  nor 
do  they  purify  themselves,163  nor  |  fast.  Al-Malik  al-Zahir  177 
[Baibars]  compelled  them  to  build  mosques  in  their  villages, 

161  For  the  religious  ceremonies  of  mid-Sha'ban  see  p.  46,  n.  139. 

162  The  Nusairis  (now  usually  called  ‘  Alawis)  are  Arabs  who  were  converted 
to  a  dissident  Shi'ite  sect  in  the  tenth  century  by  a  disciple  of  Muhammad 
ibn  Nusair  of  Basra  (who  had  proclaimed  himself  to  be  the  Bab  or  means  of 
communication  with  the  tenth  Shi'ite  imam).  The  statement  that  they  be¬ 
lieve  in  the  divinity  of  Muhammad’s  nephew  and  son-in-law  ‘All  (see 
p.  256,  n.  39)  is  a  popular  simplification  of  their  gnostic  doctrine  of  emana¬ 
tion.  SeeE.I.,  s.v.  ‘Nusairi’. 

163  I.e.  practise  circumcision. 


I 


III 


T.O.I.B. 


SYRIA 


so  in  every  village  they  put  up  a  mosque  far  away  from  their 
houses,  and  they  neither  enter  it  nor  keep  it  in  repair.  It  often 
serves  as  a  refuge  for  their  cattle  and  theirs  asses.  Frequently 
too  a  stranger  on  coming  to  a  village  of  theirs  will  stop  at  the 
mosque  and  recite  the  call  to  prayer,  and  then  they  call  out 
to  him,  'Stop  braying;  your  fodder  is  coming  to  you’.  The 
number  of  these  people  is  considerable. 

Anecdote.  It  was  told  me  that  an  obscure  person  appeared 
in  the  country  of  this  sect  and  gave  himself  out  as  the  MahdI. 
They  flocked  around  him,  and  he  promised  that  they  should 
take  possession  of  the  land  and  divided  Syria  up  between 
them.  He  used  to  designate  towns  for  them  and  bid  them  go 
forth  to  these  towns,  giving  them  olive-leaves  and  saying  to 

178  them,  'Display  these,  for  they  are  |  as  orders  on  your  behalf. 
When,  therefore,  one  of  them  went  out  and  entered  a  town, 
and  was  brought  before  the  governor,  he  would  say  to  him, 
‘The  Imam  al-Mahdl  has  given  me  this  town’.  The  governor 
would  reply  'Where  is  the  order?',  then  the  man  would  pro¬ 
duce  the  olive-leaves  and  would  be  bastinadoed  and  put  in 
prison.  Later  on  this  person  ordered  them  to  equip  them¬ 
selves  to  fight  against  the  Muslims,  and  to  begin  with  the 
town  of  Jabala.  He  bade  them  take  rods  of  myrtle  instead  of 
swords  and  spears,  and  promised  them  that  these  would  be 
transformed  in  their  hands  into  swords  at  the  moment  of 
battle.  In  accordance  with  these  instructions,  they  made  a 
surprise  attack  on  the  town  of  Jabala  while  the  inhabitants 
were  engaged  in  the  Friday  prayer,  and  entered  the  houses 
and  dishonoured  the  women.  The  Muslims  rushed  out  of  their 
mosque,  seized  their  weapons,  and  killed  them  as  they  pleased. 
When  the  news  was  carried  to  al-Ladhiqlya,  the  governor 
there,  Bahadur  [ibn]  'Abdallah,164  marched  out  with  his 
corps;  [at  the  same  time]  pigeons  were  despatched  to 

179  Tarabulus,  |  the  Amir  al-Umara'  brought  up  his  forces  as  well, 
and  together  they  pursued  the  Nusairls  until  they  had  killed 
about  twenty  thousand  of  them.  The  remainder  of  them  for¬ 
tified  themselves  in  the  hills  and  opened  negotiations  with 

164  Bahadur  b.  ‘Abdallah  al-Badri  became  governor  of  Hims  in  1319  and 
of  Karak  in  1325,  and  was  subsequently  banished  to  Tripoli  ( Durar ,  I, 
495-6;  Mayer,  Saracenic  Heraldry,  94).  This  rising  of  the  Nusairis  took  place 
in  1317  (cf.  Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  La  Syrie,  introduction,  cxi). 

112 


LATAKIYA 


the  Malik  al-Umara’,  undertaking  to  give  him  one  dinar  per 
head  if  he  could  find  a  means  to  spare  their  lives.  The 
report  [of  their  rising]  had  meanwhile  been  dispatched  by 
pigeon-post  to  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  and  his  reply  was  sent  to 
put  them  all  to  the  sword.  The  Malik  al-Umara/,  however, 
besought  him  to  reconsider  his  decision,  and  represented  to 
him  that  they  were  the  labourers  of  the  Muslims  in  the  tillage 
of  the  soil,  and  that  if  they  were  put  to  death  the  Muslims 
would  be  incapacitated  in  consequence.  So  in  the  end  the 
Sultan  gave  orders  to  spare  them. 

I  travelled  next  to  the  city  of  al-Ladhiqlya  [Latakiya], 
which  is  an  ancient  town  on  the  sea  coast;  they  even  claim 
that  it  was  the  city  of  the  king  ‘who  used  to  seize  every 
vessel  by  force’.165 1  had  gone  there  with  the  express  object  of 
visiting  the  pious  saint ‘  Abd  al-Muhsin  al-Iskandari,  but  when 
I  reached  it  I  found  that  he  was  absent  in  the  noble  Hijaz.  |  1 180 
met,  however,  among  his  companions  the  two  pious  shaikhs 
Sa‘Id  of  Bijaya  and  Yahya  of  Assila,  who  were  in  the  mosque 
of  ‘Ala  al-Din  ibn  al-Baha/.  The  latter,  who  is  one  of  the  dis¬ 
tinguished  and  notable  men  of  Syria,  and  known  for  his 
charities  and  acts  of  munificence,  built  a  convent  for  these 
two  shaikhs  near  the  mosque,  and  endowed  it  with  funds  to 
supply  food  to  all  who  pass  to  and  fro.  The  qadl  of  the  town 
is  the  eminent  Malik!  jurist  Jalal  al-DIn  ‘Abd  al-Haqq  of 
Cairo,  a  worthy  and  generous  man.  He  had  attached  himself 
to  the  service  of  the  Malik  al-Umara/  Tailan  and  was 
appointed  by  him  to  this  qadl-ship. 

Anecdote.  There  was  at  al-Ladhiqlya  a  man  known  as  Ibn 
al-Mu’aiyad — a  bitter  satirist,  from  whose  tongue  no  man  was 
safe,  as  well  as  suspect  in  his  orthodoxy,  frivolous,  and  given 
to  speaking  in  a  grossly  irreligious  way.  It  happened  that  he 
had  some  request  to  make  of  the  Malik  al-Umara/  Tailan,  who 
did  not  accord  it  |  to  him,  so  he  went  to  Cairo  and  trumped  up  i8i 
some  abominable  charges  against  him.  When  he  returned  to 
al-Ladhiqlya,  Tailan  wrote  to  the  qadl  Jalal  al-Din  to  find 
some  pretext  to  put  him  to  death  in  a  legal  manner.  The  qadl 

165  Reference  to  the  story  of  Moses  and  al-Khidr  in  Qur'an,  xviii,  78. 
Latakiya,  already  a  flourishing  port  in  classical  times,  retained  its  impor¬ 
tance  during  the  early  centuries  after  the  Arab  conquest,  and  was  destroyed 
by  Saladin’s  troops  on  its  recovery  from  the  Crusaders  in  1188. 

113 


SYRIA 


summoned  Ibn  al-Mu’aiyad  to  his  residence  and  had  a  dis¬ 
cussion  with  him,  in  the  course  of  which  he  elicited  his  secret 
heresy,  for  he  made  several  outrageous  statements,  the  least 
of  which  was  deserving  of  death.  The  qadl  had  placed  wit¬ 
nesses  behind  a  curtain,  and  they  wrote  out  an  attestation  of 
his  statements;  he  was  then  arrested  while  still  with  the  qadl 
and  thrown  into  prison.  The  Malik  al-Umara/  was  informed  of 
what  had  been  done  with  him  and  he  was  subsequently 
brought  out  of  the  prison  and  strangled  at  the  prison-gate.166 

It  was  not  long  after  this  that  the  Malik  al-Umara/  Tailan 
was  removed  from  Tarabulus,  and  the  governorship  was 
given  to  al-Hajj  Qurtayya,  one  of  the  chief  amirs,  who  had 
also  been  a  former  governor  of  the  city.167  This  man  and 
Tailan  were  on  terms  of  mutual  hostility,  so  he  made  it 
his  business  to  seek  out  Tailan’s  faults.  The  brothers  of 
Ibn  al-Mu’aiyad  appeared  before  him  with  a  complaint 
182  against  the  qadl  Jalal  al-Dln,  whereupon  he  sent  |  for  him  and 
for  the  witnesses  who  had  testified  against  Ibn  al-Mu'aiyad, 
and  when  they  were  brought  gave  orders  to  strangle  them. 
They  were  taken  outside  the  town  accordingly,  to  the  place  in 
which  [condemned]  men  are  strangled,  where  each  one  of 
them  was  made  to  sit  beneath  his  gallows  and  their  turbans 
were  removed.  Now  it  is  the  custom  of  the  amirs  of  that 
country  that  when  any  of  them  gives  orders  for  the  execution 
of  any  person,  the  chief  of  the  police168  rides  speedily  on  his 
horse  from  the  amir’s  audience  hall  to  the  place  where  the 
condemned  man  is,  then  returns  to  the  amir  and  asks  again 
for  permission  [to  carry  out  the  sentence] .  He  does  this  three 
times,  and  it  is  only  after  the  three  [requests]  that  he  executes 
the  order.  When  the  chief  of  police  performed  his  duty  [on  the 
present  occasion],  the  amirs  rose  as  he  asked  for  the  third 
time,  uncovered  their  heads,  and  said,  ‘O  amir,  this  were  a 
disgrace  to  the  religion  of  Islam,  that  the  qadl  and  the 

166  Or  ‘at  the  gate  of  his  house'. 

187  Shihab  al-Din  Qaratay  or  Qaratay  (as  the  name  is  usually  spelled) 
al-Ashrafi  was  transferred  from  Hims  to  Tripoli  in  1316,  transferred  to 
Damascus  and  replaced  at  Tripoli  by  Tainal  in  1326  (see  p.  88,  n.  79), 
reappointed  to  Tripoli  in  1332  (when  Tainal  was  transferred  to  Gaza),  and 
died  there  a  few  months  later.  He  was  reputed  to  be  a  man  of  high  courage, 
chivalry,  and  forbearance  ( Durar ,  III,  348). 

168  This  officer,  called  the  hakim,  was  responsible  for  carrying  out  the 
decisions  of  the  judges’  courts. 

114 


AL-MARQAB  AND  LEBANON 

witnesses  should  be  put  to  death!'  The  amir  accepted  their 
intercession,  and  set  the  condemned  men  free. 

In  the  environs  of  al-Ladhiqiya  is  the  monastery  known  | 
as  Dair  al-Farus,  which  is  the  largest  monastery  in  Syria  and  183 
Egypt.  It  is  inhabited  by  monks,  and  Christians  visit  it  from 
all  quarters.169  Every  Muslim  who  stops  there  is  entertained 
by  the  Christians;  their  food  is  bread,  cheese,  olives,  vinegar 
and  capers.  The  harbour  of  this  city  is  protected  by  a  chain 
between  two  towers;  no  [ship]  can  either  enter  it  or  leave 
from  it  until  the  chain  is  lowered  for  it.  It  is  one  of  the  best 
anchorages  in  Syria.170 

I  went  next  to  the  castle  of  al-Marqab,  a  mighty  fortress 
rivalling  the  castle  of  al-Karak.  It  is  situated  on  a  lofty 
mountain  and  outside  it  is  a  suburb  where  strangers  stop,  but 
they  may  not  enter  the  citadel.  It  was  captured  from  the 
hands  of  the  Christians171  by  al-Malik  al-Mansur  Qala/un,172 
and  close  by  it  was  born  his  son  al-Malik  al-Nasir.  The  qadl  of 
the  place  was  Burhan  al-DIn  of  Cairo,  one  of  the  most  worthy 
and  hospitable  of  qadis. 

I  continued  my  journey  to  al-Jabal  al-Aqra‘,  which  is  the 
highest  mountain  of  Syria  and  the  first  part  of  the  country 
visible  |  from  the  sea.173  Its  inhabitants  are  Turkmens  and  it  184 
has  springs  and  flowing  streams.  I  went  on  from  there  to  Jabal 
Lubnan.  This  is  among  the  most  fertile  mountain  ranges  in 
the  world;  in  it  are  to  be  found  all  manner  of  fruits,  and  water 
fountains  and  thick  coverts.  It  is  never  without  a  number  of 
recluses  who  have  renounced  the  world  for  the  service  of  God 


169  This  monastery  does  not  appear  to  be  otherwise  recorded  by  name.  It 
was  probably  situated  on  the  hill  called  Tell  Farous,  north-east  of  the  town 
(Dussaud,  Topographie,  415). 

170  The  lagoon  which  forms  the  harbour  at  Latakiya  is  almost  encircled 
by  two  promontories  of  rock,  leaving  only  a  narrow  entrance  about  150  ft. 
wide. 

171  Ibn  Battuta  regularly  uses  the  term  Rum  (properly  Greek  Christians), 
instead  of  the  more  usual  Faranj  (Latin  Christians). 

172  Al-Marqab,  called  Margat  by  the  Crusaders,  is  situated  prominently  on 
a  ridge  to  the  south  of  Banyas  (Bulunyas);  see  Fedden,  Crusader  Castles, 
72-3.  It  was  captured  by  Qala’un  in  1285,  but  maintained  in  good  repair. 

173  Jebel  al-Aqra‘,  ‘the  bald  mountain’,  known  as  Mons  Casius  to  the 
classical  geographers,  rises  to  a  height  of  4940  ft.,  to  the  south  of  the  mouth 
of  the  Orontes.  Though  prominently  visible  from  Latakiya  to  the  north¬ 
ward,  it  is  quite  impossible  for  Ibn  Battuta  to  have  travelled  from  Latakiya 
to  Lebanon  via  Mons  Casius. 

115 


SYRIA 


Most  High,  and  of  ascetics  and  devotees,  for  the  place  is  noted 
for  this,  and  I  myself  saw  there  several  saintly  men  of  obscure 
name  who  had  become  recluses  in  the  service  of  God  Most 
High.174 

Anecdote.  One  of  the  devotees  whom  I  met  there  told  me  the 
following  story.  ‘We  were  (he  said)  in  this  mountain,  along 
with  a  company  of  poor  brethren,  during  the  season  of  severe 
cold.  So  we  lit  a  great  fire  and  sat  around  it.  By  and  by  one 
of  those  present  said,  “This  would  be  a  splendid  fire  to  roast 
something  on”.  One  of  the  poor  brethren,  a  man  of  mean 

185  appearance  and  to  whom  nobody  |  paid  any  attention  said, 
“At  the  hour  of  afternoon  prayer  I  was  at  the  sanctuary  of 
Ibrahim  b.  Adham,175  and  saw  close  by  it  a  wild  ass  which  was 
surrounded  by  snow  on  every  side  and  I  do  not  think  it  could 
move.  If  you  were  to  go  to  where  it  is,  you  would  be  able  to 
kill  it  and  roast  its  flesh  on  this  fire”.  So  we  rose  and  went  to 
the  place,  five  of  us  together,  and  found  the  wild  ass  exactly 
as  he  had  described  to  us.  We  seized  it,  brought  it  to  our 
friends,  and  then  slaughtered  it  and  roasted  its  flesh  on  that 
fire.  But  when  we  looked  for  the  faqlr  who  had  given  the 
information  about  it,  we  could  neither  find  him  nor  discover 
any  trace  of  him,  and  greatly  did  we  marvel  about  him/ 

After  Jabal  Lubnan  we  came176  to  the  city  of  Badabakk,  a 
beautiful  and  ancient  place  and  one  of  the  most  agreeable 
cities  in  Syria,  surrounded  by  glorious  orchards  and  superb 
gardens,  wTith  flowing  streams  traversing  its  land,  and 
rivalling  Damascus  in  its  boundless  amenities.  It  has  [such 

186  an  abundance]  of  |  cherries  as  is  not  to  be  found  elsewhere, 
and  in  it  is  manufactured  the  dibs 177  which  is  called  by  its 
name.  It  is  a  kind  of  thick  fruit  juice  which  they  make  from 

174  The  term  ‘Lubnan’  seems  to  have  been  applied  more  especially  to  the 
northern  ranges  of  the  Lebanon,  now  called  Kasrawan,  between  Ba'albek 
and  Tripoli. 

176  See  p.  109,  n.  159.  The  distance  from  Jabala  to  Northern  Lebanon  is  at 
least  seventy  miles. 

176  No  explanation  is  given  of  the  change  to  the  plural  pronoun. 

177  Dibs  is  a  grape  paste  or  jelly,  the  manufacture  of  which  is  a  traditional 
industry  in  Lebanon  and  Damascus  (hence  the  common  surname  Dabbas  — 
dibs,  manufacturer).  It  will  be  noted  that  Ibn  Battuta  says  nothing  of  the 
monuments  and  citadel  of  Ba'albek,  which  occupy  so  much  space  in  the 
other  Arabic  accounts  of  the  city;  the  omission  is  no  doubt  explained  by  his 
later  statement  that  he  reached  it  in  the  evening  and  spent  only  the  night 
there. 


Il6 


grapes;  they  have  a  kind  of  clay  which  they  add  to  this,  with 
the  result  that  it  solidifies.  The  jar  into  which  the  paste  is  put 
can  then  be  broken  and  the  contents  will  remain  in  one 
piece.  From  this  dibs  is  manufactured  a  sweetmeat,  into  which 
pistachios  and  almonds  are  put,  and  which  they  call  al- 
mulabban.  Another  name  which  they  give  to  it  is  ‘horse 
skin'.178  Badabakk  also  produces  many  preparations  of  milk, 
which  are  exported  from  it  to  Damascus.  The  distance  be¬ 
tween  them  is  one  day's  journey,  if  one  makes  haste;  but 
caravans  on  leaving  Ba‘labakk  spend  the  night  at  a  small 
village  called  al-Zabdanl,  with  large  quantities  of  fruit-trees,179 
and  go  on  to  Damascus  the  following  morning.  At  Ba'labakk 
are  manufactured  also  the  textiles  which  go  by  its  name,  such 
as  ihrams,  etc.180 

Another  industry  at  Badabakk  is  the  making  of  wooden 
vessels  |  and  spoons  that  have  no  equal  in  the  world.  They  i 
call  a  large  dish  a  dast.181  Frequently  they  make  a  large  dish, 
then  make  a  second  which  fits  into  the  hollow  of  the  first,  and 
another  in  the  hollow  of  that,  and  so  on  to  as  many  as  ten, 
which  anyone  seeing  them  would  imagine  to  be  a  single  dish. 
In  the  same  way  with  spoons,  they  make  a  series  of  ten,  one 
within  the  hollow  of  the  other,  and  make  a  leather  covering  for 
them.  A  man  will  carry  this  in  his  belt  and,  on  joining  in  a 
meal  with  his  friends,  will  take  it  out;  those  who  see  it  think 
it  to  be  a  single  spoon,  whereupon  he  produces  nine  others 
from  within  it. 

When  I  entered  Ba‘labakk  night  was  already  falling,  but  I 
left  it  early  the  following  day,  because  of  my  eager  desire  to 
reach  Damascus;  and  on  Thursday,  the  ninth  of  the  month  of 
Ramadan  the  Exalted  in  the  year  [seven  hundred  and] 


178  Mulabban  means  ‘in  the  form  of  bricks  or  tiles’.  ‘Horse-skin’  (jild 
al-faras)  is  a  popular  name  for  the  apricot  paste  ( qamar  al-diri)  manufac¬ 
tured  at  Damascus,  and  also  called  mulabban.  It  is  probable  that  Ibn 
Battuta  has  confused  the  two.  See  on  the  latter  Burton’s  note  in  his  Journey 
to  al-Medinah  and  Mekkah,  I,  191. 

179  A  township  in  the  Anti-Lebanon,  below  one  of  the  main  sources  of  the 
Barada  river;  s eeZDPV,  LXXI  (1955),  101  ff- 

180  See  p.  12,  n.  15.  There  is  no  justification  in  the  text  for  the  French 
translators’  explanation  ‘fichus  de  coton’,  as  this  was  not  a  cotton-growing 
region. 

181  Dast  is  a  Persian  word,  meaning  a  bundle  or  parcel  of  objects  of  the 
same  kind. 

n  7 


SYRIA 


twenty-six,  I  arrived  at  this  city,  Dimashq  al-Sham.182  I 
lodged  there  at  the  College  of  the  Malikites,  which  is  called 

188  al-Sharablshlya.183  Damascus  is  |  the  city  which  surpasses  all 
other  cities  in  beauty  and  takes  precedence  of  them  in  loveli¬ 
ness.  Any  description,  however  extensive,  must  fall  short  of 
her  charms;  but  nothing  is  more  brilliant  than  the  language  of 
Abu’l-Hasan  Ibn  Jubair  (God's  mercy  upon  him)  in  speaking 
of  her.  He  says: 

‘As  for  Damascus,  she  is  the  Paradise  of  the  Orient,  and 
dawning-place  of  her  resplendent  light,184  the  seal  of  the 
Islamic  lands  which  we  have  explored,  and  the  bride  of  the 
cities  which  we  have  unveiled.  She  hath  adorned  herself  with 
flowers  of  sweet-scented  herbs,  and  displayed  herself  in 
brocaded  vestures  from  her  gardens;  she  hath  occupied  an 
assured  position  in  the  site  of  beauty,  and  hath  decked  herself 
in  her  bridal  chair  with  fairest  adornment.  She  is  ennobled  by 
the  fact  that  God  Most  High  gave  a  refuge  to  the  Messiah 
(upon  Him  be  peace)  and  his  Mother  in  it,  “upon  a  hill  fur¬ 
nished  with  security  and  a  flowing  spring".185  O'ershadowing 
shade,  and  water  that  steals  over  the  throat,  whose  rivulets 

189  glide  |  with  the  smoothness  of  serpents  in  every  path !  Garden 
glades,  whose  languid  breeze  revives  the  souls  of  men!  She 
shows  herself  boldly  to  her  beholders  with  polished  display, 
and  cries  to  them  “Hither  to  a  resting-place  of  beauty,  by 
night  and  at  noon".  Her  soil  is  sated  with  abundance  of  water 
until  it  yearns  for  thirstiness,  so  that  even  the  rocks  and  the 
rugged  places  almost  cry  to  thee  “Stamp  with  thy  foot;  here 
is  a  cool  spring  for  thee  to  wash  thyself  and  to  drink".186  She 
is  encircled  by  gardens  as  the  moon  is  encircled  by  its  halo, 
and  the  fruit  by  its  calyces;187  eastwards  of  her  extends  her 

182  By  the  astronomical  calendar,  9th  Ramadan  726  was  Saturday,  9 
August  1326.  Either  the  local  calendar  was  two  days  out,  or  7th  should  be 
read  for  9th.  It  will  be  recalled  (see  p.  71,  n.  1)  that  Ibn  Battuta  left 
Cairo  about  1 8  J  uly. 

183  See  p.  138,  n.  264. 

184  The  text  of  Ibn  Jubair  has  ‘of  her  gracious  and  resplendent  beauty’. 

186  Reference  to  the  verse  of  the  Qur’an  (xxiii,  52):  ‘And  We  made  the  Son 
of  Mary  and  his  Mother  a  sign,  and  We  gave  them  a  sure  refuge  upon  a  hill 
furnished  with  security  and  a  flowing  spring.’  For  the  tradition  which  con¬ 
nects  this  verse  with  Damascus  see  p.  146  below. 

186  Quotation  from  Qur’an,  xxxviii,  41,  referring  to  Job. 

187  Ibn  Jubair:  ‘and  is  enfolded  by  them  as  the  calyces  enfold  the  flower. 

Il8 


DAMASCUS 


verdant  Ghuta  as  far  as  eye  can  reach,188  and  at  every  point 
which  thou  regardest  in  her  four  quarters  its  luxuriant  ver¬ 
dure  bounds  the  sight.  With  what  divine  truth  have  men  said 
of  her  “If  Paradise  be  on  earth,  it  is  Damascus  without  a 
doubt;  and  if  |  it  be  in  Heaven,  Damascus  is  its  earthly  i9o 
counterpart  and  equivalent”. ’ 

Ibn  Juzayy  adds:  One  of  the  poets  has  indeed  composed 
verses  on  this  idea,  in  which  he  says: 

If  Paradise  be  on  this  earth,  Damascus  ’tis  and  none  but  she; 

If  in  the  heavens,  from  her  derives  its  air  and  its  amenity. 

‘Fair  city  and  forgiving  Lord!’  Enjoy  her — swift  the  hours 

will  flee!189 

(Resumes.)  Damascus  has  been  described  also  by  our 
shaikh  the  traditionist  and  traveller  Shams  al-Din  Abu 
‘Abdallah  Muhammad  b.  Jabir  b.  Hassan  al-QaisI  of  Wadi  Ash 
[Guadix],190  who  settled  at  Tunis.  He  quoted  Ibn  Jubair 
textually  and  then  added: 

‘He  has  indeed  expressed  himself  with  beauty  and  elegance 
in  his  description  of  her,  and  has  inspired  men’s  minds  by  his 
account  with  longing  to  gaze  upon  her  outward  form.  So 
much  may  be  granted,  even  though  it  was  not  given  to  him  to 
stay  in  her  [long  enough]  to  plead  her  cause  with  the  fulness 
and  accuracy  of  one  who  has  intimate  knowledge  of  her.  He 
has  not  described  |  the  golden  tints  of  her  evening  when  the  i9i 
hour  has  come  for  the  sun  to  set,  nor  the  aspects  of  her  varied 
seasons,191  nor  the  soul-stirring  occasions  of  joy  in  her.  That 
man  has  expressed  himself  with  peculiar  delicacy  who  said, 

“I  found  her  as  all  tongues  describe  her,  and  within  her  is  all 
that  hearts  can  desire  and  that  delights  all  eyes”/ 

Ibn  Juzayy  adds:  What  the  poets  have  said  in  description 
of  the  beauties  of  Damascus  is  beyond  all  computation.  My 

188  The  Ghuta  is  the  name  given  to  the  oasis  watered  by  the  rivers  of 
Damascus. 

189  The  last  line  contains  two  allusions  to  the  Qur’an;  the  first,  an  almost 
literal  quotation  from  xxxiv,  15,  relating  to  the  ‘two  gardens’  of  ancient 
Saba’  (South  Arabia);  the  second,  from  lxxix,  46,  literally  ‘an  evening  and  its 
morn’,  to  imply  a  long  period  that  seems  to  last  for  no  more  than  a  few  hours. 

190  A  contemporary  of  Ibn  Battuta,  who  travelled  twice  to  the  East,  once 
in  the  720’s  and  again  in  734.  He  was  the  leading  scholar  in  Tradition  of  his 
age  in  the  Maghrib,  and  died  of  plague  in  Tunis  in  749  ( Durar ,  III,  413-14). 

191  Readin gfusulihd  with  MSS  908  and  909. 

II9 


SYRIA 


father  (God’s  mercy  on  him)  used  frequently  to  recite  in 
description  of  her  these  verses,  which  belong  to  Sharaf 
al-Din  Abu’l-Mahasin  (God  Most  High  have  mercy  on  him):182 

Damascus !  my  longing  for  her  is  a  lover’s  torment, 

let  false  friends  importune,  let  critics  condemn  as  they 

please ! 

A  land  where  the  pebbles  are  pearls  and  the  soil  is  amber, 
and  fragrant  and  heady  as  wine  is  the  northerly  breeze. 
Her  waters  glide  softly  with  rippling  chains,  yet  unfettered,  | 
and  healthy  yet  languid  the  zephyr  that  plays  o’er  her 

leas. 

This  is  poetry  of  a  high  order.  'Arqala  the  Damascene,  of  the 
tribe  of  Kalb,193  said  of  her: 

On  the  world’s  cheek  Sham  is  the  grain  of  beauty,194 
Jilliq  the  pupil  of  its  languorous  eyes; 

Her  poppies  make  a  hell  that  flames  unburning, 
her  myrtles  an  unending  Paradise. 

The  same  poet  also  said  of  her: 

Who  would  anticipate  celestial  joys, 

Here  is  Damascus,  here  those  maids  and  boys ! 195 
Here  never  moonfaced  youth  sang  to  his  lute, 

But  piping  merle  and  ouzel  followed  suit.  | 

O  lovely  when  the  wind’s  soft  fingers  weave 
Ringed  mail  upon  its  streams — but  make-believe  !196 

He  has  many  poems  besides  these  on  Damascus.  Abu’l- 
Wahsh  Saba'  b.  Khalaf  al-Asadl197  said  of  her: 

May  God  refresh  Damascus  with  such  rain 
As  steadily  the  gentle  clouds  pour  down. 

192  Muhammad  b.  Nasr,  called  Ibn  ‘Unain,  d.  1232-3;  see  his  Diwan 
(Damascus  1946),  p.  69. 

193  An  older  contemporary  and  friend  of  Saladin,  died  probably  about 
1180. 

194  There  is  a  pun  on  the  word  Sham,  the  Arabic  name  of  Damascus,  and 
shama,  mole  or  grain  of  beauty.  Jilliq,  famous  in  Arabic  poetry  as  the  seat 
of  the  princes  of  Ghassan  before  the  Arab  conquest  in  the  seventh  century, 
is  generally  identified  with  al-Kiswa,  on  the  Nahr  al-A‘waj  (the  ancient 
Pharpar),  ten  miles  south  of  Damascus  (see  p.  158,  n.  1),  but  is  frequently 
used  by  the  poets  as  a  synonym  for  the  Ghuta  (see  p.  119,  n.  188). 

195  For  the  maidens  and  boys  of  Paradise  see  p.  41,  n.  123. 

196  See  below,  n.  198. 

197  Known  as  Wuhaish  al-Asadl,  b.  mo,  and  a  resident  of  Damascus. 

120 


DAMASCUS 


A  city  aperse,  unmatched  in  beauty 
In  all  this  earth,  or  in  remotest  spheres. 

‘Iraq’s  skewed  river  fain  would  claim  to  be 
One  of  her  streams,  and  its  ‘Iraq  disown.198 
Her  soil  in  splendour  rivals  with  the  heavens. 

Her  flowers  in  brilliance  with  the  blazing  stars. 

The  zephyr  of  her  meads  that  cools  the  night 
The  shackles  of  the  carebound  soul  unties.  | 

Spring  sports  at  ease  within  her  rich  demesnes 

And  all  the  world  is  brought  to  her  bazaars.  194 

Never  shall  nostrils  weary  of  her  scent, 

Nor  vision  of  her  fail  to  enchant  men’s  eyes. 

In  a  corresponding  strain  to  this  are  the  following  verses  on 
her  by  al-Qadl  al-Fadil  ‘Abd  al-Rahim  al-Baisani  from  an 
ode  (which  has  also,  however,  been  attributed  to  Ibn  al- 
Munlr):199 

0  lightning,  wilt  thou  bear  from  me  a  greeting 
sweetened  to  match  thine  own  delicious  showers? 

Speed  to  Damascus,  discharge  thy  limber  shafts 
to  gem  and  crown  her  meads  with  starry  flowers. 

O’er  Jairun200  spread  thy  skirts,  and  single  out 
a  palace  vested  all  in  high  noblesse,  | 

Where  springlike  bounty  spurns  restricting  bands  195 

and  wide-slit  clouds  pour  out  a  rich  largesse. 201 

Abu’l-Hasan  ‘All  b.  Musa  b.  Sa‘Id  al-‘Ansi  al-Gharnati, 
known  as  Nur  al-Dln,  said  of  her:202 

198  This  complicated  play  is  based  on  the  name  al-Zawra  ,  ‘the  skewed’, 
given  to  the  Tigris  (and  sometimes  to  West  Baghdad).  From  this  and  the 
pun  in  the  last  line  of  the  preceding  poem,  it  would  seem  that  the  irrigation 
streams  of  Damascus  were  locally  known  as  zur,  which  is  also  the  plural  of 
zawra  and  a  noun  meaning  ‘deceit’. 

199  Al-Qadl  al-Fadil  (1135-99)  was  the  friend,  chief  secretary,  and  in 
practice  the  vizier  of  Saladin,  and  widely  reputed  as  a  man  of  letters.  Ibn 
Munir  ( 1 080-1 153)  was  one  of  the  leading  Syrian  poets  of  the  twelfth  century. 

200  Jairun  is  the  quarter  of  Damascus  immediately  adjoining  the  Great 
Mosque  on  its  eastern  side. 

201  This  verse  carries  on  the  metaphor  of  garments  from  the  preceding  line: 
the  spring  rains  (of  generosity)  are  released  from  the  band  which  a  man  sit¬ 
ting  down  ties  round  his  legs  and  back  to  support  him,  and  the  quartan  (?) 
rainclouds  (of  royal  giving)  are  slit  wide  open  in  the  under-sides. 

202  See  p.  91,  n.  93. 


121 


122 


DAMASCUS 


Damascus  is  our  residence,  where  every  kind  of  pleasure 
Which  other  climes  have  but  in  part  is  found  in  fullest 
measure. 

The  branches  dance  beneath  the  breeze,  the  while  the  birds 

are  singing, 

The  waters  softly  gliding  by,  and  all  the  flowers  are 

springing. 

All  faces  shine  resplendent  at  the  joys  which  there  surround 

them, 

Cloaked  though  they  be  by  the  cool  shades  of  mighty  trees 

around  them. 

Each  gushing  river  Moses’  rod  forever  is  releasing, 

And  on  each  meadow’s  edge  there  stands  al-Khadir  with 

his  blessing.203 

He  also  said  of  her:  | 

Pitch  thy  tent  in  Jilliq  ’twixt  the  cup  and  strings —  196 

Paradise  it  is  for  ear  and  eye  refined ! 

Feast  thy  gladdened  sight  with  all  its  beauteous  things ! 
Twixt  the  meads  and  streamlet  exercise  thy  mind ! 

Lo,  the  golden  tints  that  flush  the  evening  sky ! 

Hark,  among  the  trees  the  choir  of  birds  combined ! 

Say  to  him  who  seeks  its  pleasures  to  decry, 

‘Hence,  to  me  thou  art  of  other  than  mankind !’ 

And  again  he  said  of  her: 

Damascus !  Paradise — the  stranger  there  forgets  his  native 

land! 

Her  far-famed  Saturdays — how  elegant,  how  marvellous 

their  show ! 

See,  where  thou  turnst  thine  eyes,  a  lover  or  beloved  on 

every  hand ! 

This  dwelling-place  of  joys,  where  doves  attune  their  song 

to  dancing  bough,  | 

And  flowers  that  galliardwise  strut  through  her  meads,  a  197 

gay  and  scented  band. 

203  According  to  the  Qur’an,  vii,  160,  when  Moses  struck  the  rock  'there 
gushed  out  from  it  twelve  springs’.  Al-Khadir  or  al-Khidr  is  the  immortal 
wandering  saint  of  Muslim  legend  (see  E.I.,  s.v.);  the  allusion  here  is  to  the 
tradition  ‘Wheresoever  al-Khadir  stands  or  prays  the  earth  becomes  green’. 

123 


SYRIA 


For  the  people  of  Damascus  do  no  work  on  Saturday,  but  go 
out  to  the  pleasaunces,  by  the  banks  of  the  rivers  and  under 
great  trees  with  spreading  branches,  where,  between  the 
orchards  with  their  fresh  greenery  and  the  gliding  waters, 
they  spend  their  day  until  nightfall.  But  our  discourse  on  the 
charms  of  Damascus  has  carried  us  on  too  long,  so  let  us 
return  to  the  narrative  of  the  Shaikh  Abu  'Abdallah. 

The  congregational  mosque  of  Damascus ,  known  as  the 
Mosque  of  the  Umayyads.  This  is  the  greatest  mosque  on  earth 
in  point  of  magnificence,  the  most  perfect  in  architecture, 
and  the  most  exquisite  in  beauty,  grace,  and  consummate 
achievement;  no  rival  to  it  is  known,  no  equal  to  it  is  in 
existence.  The  man  who  was  responsible  for  its  construction 
and  architectural  perfection  was  the  Commander  of  the 
i98  Faithful,  al-Walid  b.  ‘Abd  al-Malik  b.  |  Marwan.204  He  applied 
to  the  King  of  the  Greeks  at  Constantinople,  bidding  him 
send  craftsmen  to  him,  and  the  king  sent  him  twelve 
thousand  of  them.  The  site  of  the  mosque  was  a  church,  and 
when  the  Muslims  conquered  Damascus  Khalid  b.  al-Walid 
(God  be  pleased  with  him)  entered  from  one  side  by  the  sword 
and  penetrated  as  far  as  the  middle  of  the  church,  while  Abu 
‘Ubaida  b.  al-Jarrah  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  entered  by 
capitulation  from  the  western  side  and  also  advanced  as  far 
as  the  middle  of  the  church.205  Consequently  the  Muslims 
made  of  that  half  of  the  church  which  they  had  entered  by 
force  a  mosque,  and  the  half  which  they  occupied  under  the 
terms  of  the  capitulation  remained  a  church.  When  al-Walid 
determined  to  enlarge  the  mosque  by  incorporating  the 
church,  he  asked  the  Greeks  to  sell  him  that  church  of  theirs 
for  whatsoever  equivalent  they  desired,  but  they  would  not 
yield  to  him,  so  he  seized  it  from  their  hands.  The  Christians 

204  Umayyad  Caliph  of  Damascus,  reigned  705-15.  For  the  construction 
and  early  history  of  the  Great  Mosque  see  K.  A.  C.  Creswell,  Early  Muslim 
Architecture,  I  (Oxford,  1932),  100  ff. 

205  This  paragraph  follows  loosely  the  account  given  by  Ibn  Jubair.  For 
Abu  ‘Ubaida  see  p.  82,  n.  57,  and  for  Khalid  b.  al-Walid  p.  90,  n.  89. 
The  legend  here  repeated  relates  to  the  first  Arab  occupation  of  Damascus 
in  635  (the  city  was  later  evacuated  and  reoccupied  without  a  siege  after 
the  defeat  of  the  Byzantine  army  on  the  Yarmuq  river  in  636),  and 
appears  to  derive  from  a  misunderstanding,  it  having  been  the  ancient 
temple  temenos,  and  not  the  later  church  within  it,  which  was  shared  by 
both  faiths  (Creswell,  128  ff.,  and  see  below,  p.  127,  n.  215). 

I24 


THE  UMAYYAD  MOSQUE 

used  to  assert  that  the  destroyer  of  the  church  would  be 
stricken  with  madness,  and  they  told  that  to  al-Walld.  |  But  199 
he  replied  ‘I  shall  be  the  first  to  be  stricken  with  madness  in 
the  service  of  God’  and,  taking  an  axe,  he  set  to  work  to 
knock  it  down  with  his  own  hands.  When  the  Muslims  saw 
this,  they  joined  one  after  another  in  the  work  of  destruction, 
and  God  gave  the  lie  to  the  assertion  of  the  Greeks. 

[The  inner  faces  of]  all  the  walls  of  this  mosque  are  dec¬ 
orated  with  cut  stones  of  gold  known  as  fusaifisa  ,  inter¬ 
mingled  with  various  colours  of  extraordinary  beauty.206  The 
size  of  the  mosque  in  length  from  east  to  west  is  two  hundred 
paces,  that  is  three  hundred  cubits,  and  its  breadth  from 
south  to  north  a  hundred  and  thirty-five  paces,  that  is  two 
hundred  cubits.  The  number  of  windows  of  coloured  glass 
contained  in  it  is  seventy-four.  Its  naves  are  three  in  number, 
extending  lengthwise  from  east  to  west,  the  breadth  of  each 
nave  being  eighteen  paces.  [The  arches]  are  supported  by 
fifty-four  columns,  with  eight  [plaster]  piers  interrupting 
[the  series  of]  them,  |  and  six  piers  cased  with  marble  and  200 
inlaid  with  coloured  marbles,  upon  which  are  represented  the 
figures  of  mihrabs  and  other  shapes.  These  support  the 
cupola  of  lead  which  [surmounts  the  space]  in  front  of  the 
mihrdb,  and  which  is  called  the  ‘Dome  of  the  Eagle’.  It  is  as 
though  they  likened  the  mosque  to  a  flying  eagle,  the  cupola 
being  its  head.207  This  is  one  of  the  most  wonderful 
buildings  in  the  world;  from  whatever  side  you  face  towards 
the  city  the  Dome  of  the  Eagle  appears  to  you,  soaring 
into  the  air  and  standing  out  above  all  the  buildings  of  the 
town. 

The  courtyard  [of  the  mosque]  is  encircled  by  three  arcades, 
[one  on  each  of]  its  eastern,  western  and  northern  sides,  and 
the  breadth  of  each  arcade  being  ten  paces.  They  contain 
thirty-three  columns  and  fourteen  [plaster]  piers.  The  breadth 

206  I.e.  mosaics,  some  panels  of  which  still  survive  the  later  destruction 
caused  by  fire  and  earthquake  in  the  intervening  centuries;  see  M.  van 
Berchem,  ‘The  mosaics  of  the  Great  Mosque  at  Damascus’,  in  Creswell, 
pp.  230-52  and  plates.  The  description  and  figures  are  also  taken  from  Ibn 
Jubair. 

207  Ibn  Battuta  abridges  Ibn  Jubair’s  more  careful  explanation  of  this 
supposed  likeness,  the  aisle  below  being  the  breast  and  the  walls  of  the 
aisles  on  either  side  being  the  wings.  Creswell  (p.  114)  explains  the  term 
‘eagle’  as  derived  from  Greek  aero's-,  meaning  both  ‘eagle’  and  ‘gable’. 

125 


SYRIA 


201 


202 


of  the  court  is  a  hundred  cubits.208  It  is  one  of  the  most  grace- 
ful  and  most  perfectly  beautiful  of  sights.  The  people  of  the 
city  gather  there  in  the  evenings,  some  reading,  some  con¬ 
versing,209  and  some  walking  up  and  down,  and  they  disperse 
after  the  last  prayer  of  the  night.  When  any  |  of  their  principal 
men,  among  the  jurists  or  others,  meets  a  friend  of  his,  each 
of  them  hastens  towards  the  other  and  bows  his  head. 

Within  this  courtyard  there  are  three  domed  pavilions. 
One  of  them,  on  the  western  side  of  it  and  the  largest  of  the 
three,  is  called  the  Pavilion  of  ‘Afisha,  Mother  of  the  Faithful. 
It  stands  upon  eight  marble  columns,  and  is  decorated  with 
mosaics  and  paints  of  various  colours  and  roofed  with  lead.  It 
is  said  that  the  wealth  of  the  mosque  used  to  be  stored  in  it, 
and  it  was  stated  to  me210  that  the  profits  of  the  landed 
property  belonging  to  the  mosque  and  its  revenues  amount  to 
about  twenty-five  thousand  gold  dinars  annually.  The  second 
pavilion,  on  the  east  side  of  the  court,  is  of  the  same  form  as 
the  other,  but  is  smaller  than  it;  it  stands  upon  eight  marble 
columns  and  is  called  the  Pavilion  of  Zain  al-‘ Abidin. 211  The 
third  pavilion,  in  the  centre  of  the  court,  is  a  small  octagonal 
building  of  strikingly  fine  marble,  |  solidly  put  together,  and 
stands  upon  four  columns  of  pure  white  marble.  Beneath  it  is 
an  iron  grille,  in  the  centre  of  which  is  a  brass  pipe  ejecting  a 
thin  spirt  of  water  upwards,  so  that  it  rises  and  then  describes 
a  curve,  like  a  wand  of  silver.  They  call  this  the  water-cage, 
and  the  people  like  to  put  their  mouths  to  it  to  drink. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  court  there  is  a  doorway  leading  to  a 
mosque  of  exquisite  design,  called  the  sanctuary  of  'All  b. 
Abu  Talib  (God  be  pleased  with  him).212  Facing  this,  on  the 

208  Ibn  Jubair  adds  ‘exclusive  of  the  roofed-in  northern  and  southern 
arcades’. 

209  The  phrases  may  be  taken  to  mean  ‘some  reading  the  Qur’an,  some 
reciting  Traditions’,  but  from  the  parallel  passage  in  Ibn  Jubair  the  more 
general  senses  seem  to  be  meant  here. 

210  Here  Ibn  Battuta  brings  the  figure  given  by  Ibn  Jubair  (‘8000  Tyrian 
dinars’)  up  to  date,  from  his  own  information.  The  practice  of  depositing  the 
treasure  in  a  domed  pavilion  in  the  mosque  appears  to  have  been  common  in 
Syria  (Creswell,  142). 

211  ‘All,  called  Zain  al-'Abidin,  was  the  son  of  Husain  and  fourth  in  the  line 
of  the  Shi'ite  Imams.  There  seems  to  be  as  little  explanation  for  the  linking 
of  his  name  with  this  pavilion  as  for  that  of  ‘A’isha  with  the  western  pavi¬ 
lion. 

212  Mash’ had  ‘All,  not  in  the  usual  sense  of  tomb-mosque,  but  in  the  sense 

126 


THE  UMAYYAD  MOSQUE 


west  side,  at  the  point  where  the  western  and  northern 
galleries  join,  is  a  place  where,  it  is  said,  ‘A’isha  (God  be 
pleased  with  her)  gave  audiences  at  which  she  related 
Traditions  of  the  Prophet. 

At  the  south  side  of  the  mosque  is  the  principal  maqsura,212 
in  which  the  imam  of  the  Shafi'ites  officiates  as  prayer-leader 
during  the  prayers.  In  the  eastern  angle  of  this  maqsura,  and 
opposite  the  mihrdb,  is  a  great  chest  containing  the  holy 
Volume  |  which  was  sent  by  the  Commander  of  the  Faithful, 
‘Othman  b.  ‘Affan  (God  be  pleased  with  him),  to  Syria.214 
This  chest  is  opened  every  Friday  after  the  [noon]  service, 
and  the  people  compete  with  one  another  to  kiss  that  holy 
Volume.  It  is  to  this  place  too  that  people  bring  their  debtors, 
and  those  against  whom  they  have  any  claim,  to  swear.  To 
the  left  of  the  maqsura  is  the  mihrdb  of  the  Companions  [of  the 
Prophet] — the  historians  say  that  it  was  the  first  mihrdb  con¬ 
structed  in  Islam — in  which  the  imam  of  the  Malikites 
officiates;  to  the  right  of  the  maqsura  is  the  mihrdb  of  the 
Hanafites,  in  which  their  imam  officiates,  and  adjoining  this 
the  mihrdb  of  the  Hanbalites,  in  which  the  Hanbalite  imam 
officiates. 

The  mosque  has  three  minarets.215  One  of  them  is  at  its 
eastern  end,  and  is  of  Greek  construction.  Its  doorway  is 

of  ‘place  sanctified  by  the  presence  there’  of  a  sainted  personage  at  some 
period.  Ibn  Jubair  states  more  precisely  that  the  attribution  of  this  sanc¬ 
tuary  to  ‘All  was  (in  his  time)  peculiar  to  the  Shi'ites,  rightly  adding  that 
neither  ‘All  nor  ‘A’isha  is  known  to  have  visited  Damascus  at  any  time. 

213  The  maqsura  is  a  chamber  or  compartment  enclosed  by  rails  or  grilles 
for  the  use  and  protection  of  the  ruler  or  governor  during  the  ritual  prayers. 
The  imam  who  officiates  in  the  maqsura  is,  of  course,  the  imam  of  the  rite  to 
which  the  ruler  adheres;  and  this  Shafi'ite  privilege  probably  goes  back  to 
the  time  of  Nur  al-Dln  and  Saladin. 

214  The  first  official  compilation  of  the  Qur’an  was  made  about  650  by 
order  of  the  third  caliph,  ‘Othman,  and  copies  of  this  recension  were  sent 
by  him  to  the  provincial  capitals.  Being  the  holiest  relic  in  the  city,  there 
was  less  likelihood  that  any  accused  person  would  risk  swearing  a  false  oath 
over  it. 

216  In  this  paragraph  Ibn  Battuta  is  altogether  independent  of  Ibn 
J  ubair.  The  south-eastern  minaret  was  originally  a  tower  of  the  pre-Islamic 
(and  pre-Byzantine)  temple  temenos  (see  R.  Dussaud,  ‘Le  temple  de  Jupiter 
Damascenien,’  in  Syria,  III  (1922),  219  ff.);  it  was  destroyed  by  earthquake 
in  1202  (after  Ibn  Jubair’s  visit),  rebuilt,  burnt  down  in  1339-40,  and  re¬ 
constructed  a  few  years  later.  The  south-western  minaret  was  also  an  ancient 
temenos  tower.  The  northern  minaret  was  called  ‘the  Bride’,  and  is  reputed 
to  have  been  the  first  minaret  of  Muslim  construction. 

K  127  T.O.I.B. 


203 


SYRIA 


within  the  mosque  and  in  its  lowest  story  there  is  a  lavatory 
as  well  as  ablution  chambers,  in  which  those  who  devote 
themselves  to  religious  exercises  and  the  occupants  of  cells  in 
the  mosque  make  their  major  or  minor  ablutions.  The  second 
minaret  is  on  the  western  side — it  also  is  of  Greek  construc- 

204  tion — and  the  third  is  on  the  northern  side,  and  was  |  built  by 
the  Muslims.  The  number  of  muezzins  [on  the  staff]  of  the 
mosque  is  seventy. 

On  the  eastern  side  of  the  mosque  is  a  large  railed-off 
enclosure,  within  which  there  is  a  tank  of  water.  This  en¬ 
closure  is  appropriated  to  the  blacks  of  Zaila'.216  In  the  centre 
of  the  mosque  is  the  tomb  of  Zechariah  (upon  him  be  peace), 
surmounted  by  a  coffin  set  breadthwise  between  two  pillars 
and  covered  by  a  black  silk  cloth  with  borders  of  figured  work. 
This  is  inscribed  in  white  lettering:  'O  Zakariya/,  we  give  thee 
glad  tidings  of  a  son,  whose  name  [shall  be]  Yahya/217 

This  mosque  is  renowned  for  its  special  virtue.  I  have  read218 
in  regard  to  the  peculiar  merits  of  Damascus  [the  following 
tradition]  handed  down  from  Sufyan  al-Thawrl:219  'Verily, 
the  prayer  in  the  mosque  of  Damascus  is  equivalent  to  thirty 
thousand  prayers.'  Moreover  in  the  Tradition  handed  down 
from  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  save  him),  [it  is  related]  that 
he  said:  'God  shall  be  worshipped  in  it  for  forty  years  after 
the  destruction  of  the  world.'  It  is  said  that  the  southern  wall 

205  of  the  mosque  |  was  founded  by  the  prophet  of  God,  Hud 
(upon  him  be  peace),  and  that  the  grave  of  Hud  is  contained 

216  For  Zaila‘,  now  in  Somaliland,  see  Selections,  p.  no,  and  E.I.,  s.v. 

217  This  monument,  which  is  in  the  southern  gallery,  is  usually  called  the 
tomb  of  J  ohn  the  Baptist  (or,  as  in  Ibn  J  ubair,  the  burial  place  of  his  head) . 
The  head  of  John  the  Baptist  was  reputedly  preserved  in  Hims  (Emesa), 
and  was  claimed  to  have  been  brought  to  Damascus  shortly  before  the  Arab 
conquest  in  635-6,  presumably  at  the  time  when  the  Christian  basilica  was 
dedicated  to  him;  Dussaud,  in  Syria,  III  (1922),  236-7.  The  quotation  in  the 
text  is  from  the  narrative  of  the  birth  of  John  in  the  Qur’an,  xix,  7.  The 
tomb  of  Zechariah  is  said  to  have  been  discovered  in  the  ruins  of  the 
Umayyad  mosque  in  Aleppo  in  1708  (al-Muradi,  Silk  al-Durar,  III,  208). 

218  This  paragraph  also  reproduces  a  paragraph  of  Ibn  J  ubair,  who  says 
‘We  have  read  .  .  Ibn  Battuta’s  phrase  seems  to  imply  ‘I  too  have  read’. 
The  French  translators  take  the  following  words  to  be  the  title  of  a  book  ‘On 
the  Merits  of  Damascus’.  Although  several  works  with  similar  titles  are 
known  (by  Abu  Sa'id  al-Sam'anl,  d.  1167,  Diya’  al-Din  al-Maqdisi,  d.  1245, 
and  Shams  al-Din  al-Maqdisi,  d.  1344),  the  reference  is  probably  to  the 
relevant  chapter  of  the  great  History  of  Damascus  by  Ibn  ‘Asakir  (d.  1176). 

219  A  noted  scholar  and  traditionist  of  the  second  Islamic  century,  d.  778. 

128 


THE  UMAYYAD  MOSQUE 

in  it.  But  I  have  seen  in  the  vicinity  of  the  town  of  Zafari  of 
the  Yaman,  in  a  place  called  al-Ahqaf,  a  building  containing  a 
grave  on  which  is  inscribed:  This  is  the  grave  of  Hud  b. 
‘Abir,  God  bless  and  save  him/220  Among  the  other  merits  of 
this  mosque  is  the  fact  that  recitation  of  the  Qur’an  and 
prayer  are  unceasing  in  it,  except  for  a  short  time,  as  we  shall 
relate.  The  townspeople  assemble  in  it  daily,  immediately 
after  the  dawn  prayer,  to  read  a  seventh  part  of  the  Qur’an, 
and  assemble  again  after  the  mid-afternoon  prayer  for  a 
reading  which  goes  by  the  name  of  the  Kawthari  reading,  in 
which  they  read  from  the  chapter  of  al-Kawthar  to  the  end 
of  the  Qur’an.221  Those  who  assemble  for  this  reading  have 
stipends  assigned  to  them,  their  number  being  about  six 
hundred  in  all.  The  clerk  of  absences  checks  their  names,  |  and  206 
any  of  them  who  absent  themselves  have  their  stipends 
cut  at  the  time  of  payment  by  the  amount  of  their  absence.222 

In  this  mosque  also  there  are  a  great  many  'sojourners’223 
who  never  leave  it,  occupying  themselves  unremittingly  in 
prayer  and  recitation  of  the  Qur’an  and  liturgies,  and  using 
for  their  ablutions  those  lavatories  which  are  inside  the 
eastern  minaret,  as  we  have  described  above.  The  townsfolk 
supply  their  needs  of  food  and  clothing,  although  the 
sojourners  never  beg  for  anything  of  the  kind  from  them. 

This  mosque  has  four  doors:  (1)  a  southern  door,  known  as 
the  'Door  of  Increase’;  on  top  of  it  there  is-a  fragment  of  the 
lance  to  which  the  flag  of  Khalid  b.  al-Walid  (God  be  pleased 
with  him)  was  attached.224  This  door  is  approached  by  a  large 
and  spacious  vestibule  where  the  dealers  in  odds  and  ends  and 

220  See  vol.  II,  p.  203  of  the  Arabic  text.  Hud  is,  in  the  Qur’an,  the  pro¬ 
phet  sent  to  the  ancient  Arabian  tribe  of  ‘Ad.  The  reference  to  Hud  at 
Damascus  comes  from  Ibn  Jubair. 

221  I.e.,  from  Sura  cviii  (beginning  ‘Verily  We  have  given  thee  al-Kawthar’) 
to  the  end  of  Sura  cxiv,  all  of  which  are  short  chapters  of  fifteen  to  twenty 
words  each.  For  al-Kawthar  see  p.  41,  n.  123. 

222  This  sentence  and  the  paragraph  following  are  added  by  Ibn  Battuta 
to  Ibn  Jubair’s  account. 

223  Mujawir,  translated  ‘sojourner’,  is  the  term  applied  to  a  student  who 
spends  a  period  of  months  or  years  at  a  celebrated  sanctuary  for  study  or 
edification;  cf.  below  pp.  176  f.,  221  f. 

224  For  Khalid  b.  al-Walid  see  p.  90,  n.  89.  This  description  of  the  doors 
is  based  on  Ibn  Jubair,  but  revised  and  brought  up  to  date.  The  southern 
door,  a  little  to  the  east  of  the  south-west  minaret,  was  apparently  added 
in  the  eleventh  century. 


129 


SYRIA 


other  merchants  have  their  shops.  Through  it  lies  the  way  to 
the  [former]  Cavalry  House,225  and  on  the  left  as  one  emerges 
from  it  is  the  Coppersmiths’  Row,  a  large  bazaar  extending 

207  along  |  the  south  wall  of  the  mosque  and  one  of  the  finest 
bazaars  in  Damascus.  On  the  site  of  this  bazaar  stood  the 
residence  of  Mu‘awiya  b.  Abu  Sufyan  (God  be  pleased  with 
him)  along  with  those  of  his  [principal]  supporters;  it  was 
called  al-Khadra/,  and  was  subsequently  destroyed  by  the 
‘Abbasids  (God  be  pleased  with  them),  and  its  site  turned 
into  a  market.226 

(2)  An  eastern  door,  the  largest  of  the  doors  of  the  mosque, 
called  the  Jairun  Door.  It  has  a  large  vestibule,  leading  out  to 
a  vast  and  broad  arcade,  entered  through  a  quintuple  gate¬ 
way  [of  arches]  formed  by  six  tall  columns.227  On  the  left- 
hand  side  of  this  is  an  enormous  tomb-mosque  in  which 
formerly  reposed  the  head  of  al-Husain  (God  be  pleased  with 
him),228  and  opposite  it  is  a  small  mosque  called  by  the  name 
of  ‘Omar  b.  ‘Abd  al-‘Aziz  (God  be  pleased  with  him),229  in 
which  there  is  running  water.  Laid  out  at  the  entrance  of  the 
arcade  is  a  flight  of  steps,  by  which  one  descends  to  the 
vestibule  [of  the  mosque],  the  latter  resembling  an  enormous 

208  trench  leading  up  to  a  door  of  enormous  height  |  supported  by 
tall  columns  like  trunks  of  palm  trees.  Along  both  sides  of  this 
arcade  there  are  pillars  upon  which  are  supported  circular 
passages,  where  the  cloth-merchants  amongst  others  have 
their  shops;  above  these  again  are  long  passages  in  which  are 
the  shops  of  the  jewellers  and  booksellers  and  makers  of 
admirable  glassware.  In  the  square  adjoining  the  first  door 
are  stalls  belonging  to  the  principal  legal  witnesses,  two  stalls 
among  them  belonging  to  the  Shafbites  and  the  rest  to  those 

225  Originally  an  annexe  to  the  Umayyad  palace  (see  the  following  note), 
on  its  western  side.  Much  of  the  site  was  later  occupied  by  the  Aminiya 
college,  founded  in  1120,  the  first  Shafi'ite  college  in  Damascus  ( Daris ,  I, 
I78). 

226  The  ‘Green  Palace’  of  the  Umayyad  Caliph  Mu'awiya  (reigned  660-80) 
was  famous  in  Muslim  annals,  although  no  description  of  it  is  known.  It  was 
probably  a  Byzantine  building  converted  by  the  Umayyads  (cf.  Ibn  ‘Asakir, 
vol.  II,  pt.  i  (Damascus,  1954),  138). 

227  These  were  also  remains  of  the  Roman  temple  of  Jupiter  (see  p.  127, 
n.  215).  The  columns  of  this  portico  fell  down  in  1858  (Creswell,  108). 

228  See  p.  46,  n.  140. 

229  See  p.  93,  n.  97. 


130 


THE  UMAYYAD  MOSQUE 

of  various  schools.  In  each  stall  there  may  be  five  or  six  not¬ 
aries230  and  the  person  authorized  to  draw  up  contracts  of  mar¬ 
riage  on  behalf  of  the  qadl.  The  other  notaries  are  scattered 
throughout  the  city.  In  the  vicinity  of  these  stalls  is  the  bazaar 
of  the  stationers,  who  sell  paper,  pens  and  ink.  In  the  centre 
of  the  vestibule  which  we  have  been  describing  there  is  a  large 
circular  basin,  made  of  marble,  surmounted  by  an  unroofed 
cupola,231  which  is  supported  by  marble  columns,  and  in  the 
centre  of  the  basin  is  a  copper  pipe  which  violently  forces  out 
water  |  so  that  it  rises  into  the  air  more  than  a  man’s  height.  209 
They  call  it  the  Waterspout,  and  its  aspect  is  striking.  Then, 
to  the  right  as  one  emerges  from  the  Jairun  door,  which  is 
called  also  The  Door  of  the  Hours’,  is  an  upper  chamber, 
shaped  like  a  great  arch,  within  which  there  are  small  arches 
made  to  open  and  furnished  with  doors  to  the  number  of  the 
hours  of  the  day.  These  doors  have  their  inner  side  painted 
green  and  their  outer  side  yellow,  and  as  [each]  hour  of  the 
day  passes  the  green  inner  side  [of  one  door]  is  turned  to  the 
outside,  and  the  yellow  outer  side  to  the  inside.  It  is  said  that 
inside  the  upper  chamber  there  is  a  man  who  has  the  duty  of 
turning  them  by  hand  as  the  hours  pass.232 

(3)  The  western  door  is  known  as  the  ‘Door  of  the  Courier’, 
and  on  the  right  as  one  emerges  from  it  is  a  college  of  the 
ShafiTtes.  This  door  too  has  a  vestibule  in  which  there  are 
candlemakers’  booths  and  a  row  of  shops  for  the  sale  of  fruit. 

At  its  top  end  there  is  a  door  to  which  one  ascends  by  a  flight 
of  steps;  this  door  is  flanked  by  columns  soaring  into  the  air, 
and  at  the  foot  |  of  the  steps  are  two  circular  fountains  on  the  210 
right  and  left  [respectively]. 

(4)  The  northern  door  is  known  by  the  name  of  ‘Con¬ 
fectioners’  Door’,233  and  has  a  large  vestibule  [likewise].  On 

230  A  legal  witness  [shahid,  or  in  Western  usage  ‘adl),  is  a  person  of  known 
probity  whose  testimony  is  accepted  in  a  qadl’s  court.  Since  Muslim  law  did 
not  admit  documentary  evidence  as  proof,  all  transactions  were  formally 
‘witnessed’  by  two  or  more  of  such  persons.  This  became  a  recognized  pro¬ 
fession,  corresponding  to  the  Roman  and  modern  notaries. 

231  Ibn  J ubair  says  more  precisely  ‘encircled  by  a  wide  cornice  of  lead’. 

232  This  famous  water-clock,  constructed  by  Fakhr  al-Din  al-Sa‘atI  in 
the  reign  of  Nur  al-Din  (1154-74),  had  originally  a  much  more  elaborate 
mechanism,  described  by  Ibn  Jubair  (tr.  Broadhurst,  281). 

233  Manufacturers  of  natif,  a  confection  made  from  grape  juice  and  other 
ingredients. 

131 


SYRIA 


the  right  as  one  comes  out  of  it  is  a  convent  known  as  al- 
Shumai/aniya,234  which  has  a  water  tank  in  the  centre  and 
lavatories  supplied  with  running  water.  It  is  said  that  it  was 
the  residence  of  ‘Omar  b.  ‘Abd  al-‘Aziz  (God  be  pleased  with 
him).  At  each  of  the  four  doors  of  the  mosque  is  a  building  for 
ritual  ablutions,  containing  about  a  hundred  rooms  supplied 
with  abundance  of  running  water. 

The  imams  in  this  mosque.  The  officiating  imams  are  thir¬ 
teen  in  number.  The  first  of  them  [to  perform  the  prayers]  is 
the  imam  of  the  Shafidtes,  whose  imam  at  the  time  of  my 
arrival  in  Damascus  was  the  Chief  Qadi  Jalal  al-Din  Muham¬ 
mad  b.  ‘Abdal-Rahman  al-Qazwini,  one  of  the  greatest 
doctors  of  the  law.235  He  was  also  the  preacher  at  the  mosque 
and  his  place  of  residence  was  in  the  Dar  al-Khitaba;  he  used 
an  to  come  out  [into  the  mosque]  through  the  iron  door  |  opposite 
the  maqsura,  which  was  the  door  through  which  Mu'awiya 
(God  be  pleased  with  him)  used  to  enter.  Jalal  al-Din  subse¬ 
quently  held  the  chief  qadl-ship  in  Egypt,  after  al-Malik 
al-Nasir  had  repaid  on  his  behalf  about  a  hundred  thousand 
dirhams  which  he  owed  in  debts  at  Damascus. 

When  the  imam  of  the  Shafidtes  gives  the  salutation  at  the 
end  of  his  prayers,  the  imam  of  the  sanctuary  of  ‘All  begins 
the  prayers  [there];  after  him  follow  in  succession  the  imam 
of  the  sanctuary  of  al-Husain,  the  imam  of  al-Kallasa,236  the 
imam  of  the  sanctuary  of  Abu  Bakr,  the  imam  of  the 
sanctuary  of  ‘Omar,  the  imam  of  the  sanctuary  of  ‘Othman 
(God  be  pleased  with  them  all),  the  imam  of  the  Malikites — 
their  imam  at  the  time  of  my  arrival  at  Damascus  was  the 
jurist  Abu  ‘Omar  b.  Abid-Walld  Ibn  al-Hajj  al-Tujibi,  Cor¬ 
dovan  by  family,  bom  at  Ghamata237  and  resident  at 
Damascus,  who  used  to  exercise  the  imamate  alternately 

234  Apparently  the  same  as  the  otherwise  unidentified  convent  al- 
Shumaniya. 

235  Born  1267/8,  appointed  qadi  and  khatib  of  Damascus  1324,  trans¬ 
ferred  to  Cairo  as  Chief  Qadi  in  May  1327,  reappointed  to  Damascus  1338, 
and  died  there  at  the  end  of  the  same  year  ( Durar ,  IV,  3-6;  Manhal  Safi,  no. 
2178). 

236  Al-Kallasa,  ‘the  lime-kiln’,  was  a  small  college  built  by  Nur  al-Din  on 
the  northern  side  of  the  mosque  in  1160;  it  was  burned  down  with  the  ad¬ 
joining  minaret  of  ‘the  Bride’  in  1174,  but  rebuilt  by  Saladin,  who  was 
buried  in  it  in  1 193. 

237  Ahmad  b.  Muhammad  b.  Ahmad  (1272-1346),  son  of  the  former 

132 


IMAMS  AND  PROFESSORS 

with  his  brother  (God’s  mercy  on  both) — then  the  imam  of 
•  tes  their  imam  at  the  time  of  my  arrival  there 
was  the  jurist  ‘Imad  a  1-Din  al-Hanafi,  known  |  as  Ibn  al-  212 
Rum!,238  who  was  also  one  of  the  leading  Sufis  and  held  the 
post  of  shaikh  of  the  Khatuniya  convent  (he  had  another 
convent  also  in  al-Sharaf  al-Ada239) — then  the  imam  of  the 
Hanbalites,  who  was  at  that  time  the  shaikh  ‘Abdallah,  the 
blind,240  one  of  the  masters  of  the  science  of  Qur’an-reading 
at  Damascus.  After  all  these  come  five  imams  to  lead  the 
‘compensatory’  prayers.241  So  prayer  goes  on  unceasingly  in 
this  mosque  from  early  morning  until  the  first  third  of  the 
night,  and  the  same  applies  also  to  the  recitation  of  the 
Qur’an.  This  is  one  of  the  proud  distinctions  of  this  blessed 
mosque. 

The  professors  and  teachers  at  the  mosque .  There  are  in  this 
mosque  several  ‘circles’  of  instruction  in  the  various  branches 
of  [sacred]  knowledge,  while  the  traditionists  read  the  books 
of  Tradition,  sitting  in  high  chairs,  and  the  Qur’an-readers 
recite  in  pleasing  voices  morning  and  evening.  |  It  contains  213 
also  a  number  of  teachers  of  the  Book  of  God,  each  of  whom 
leans  his  back  upon  one  of  the  pillars  of  the  mosque,  dic¬ 
tating  to  the  children  and  making  them  recite,  for  they 
abstain  from  writing  down  the  Qur’an  on  their  tablets  out  of 
reverence  for  the  Book  of  God  [lest  it  suffer  pollution],  and 
so  recite  it  from  dictation  only.  The  teacher  of  writing  is  a 
different  person  from  the  teacher  of  the  Qur’an,  and  he  uses 
books  of  poetry  and  the  like  for  teaching  them.  The  pupil 
moves  from  the  class  for  religious  instruction  to  the  writing 
class,  and  then  becomes  expert  in  calligraphy,  because  the 


Malikite  imam  of  the  Mosque;  his  brother  Fakhr  al-Dln  ‘Abdallah  was  three 
years  younger  (1276-1342)  ( Durar ,  I,  247;  II,  286;  III,  350). 

238  Son  of  Shihab  al-Din  al-Rumi,  Ahmad  b.  Muhammad  b.  Ibrahim 
al-Maraghi,  d.  1317.  ‘Imad  al-Din  shared  with  his  brother  Sharaf  al-Din  his 
father's  offices,  which  included  the  headship  of  the  Mu'iniya  College. 

239  The  Sharaf  al-A‘la  was  the  stretch  along  the  northern  bank  of  the 
Barada,  to  the  west  of  the  city. 

240  Probably  Muhibb  al-Din  ‘Abdallah  b.  Ahmad  b.  ‘Abdallah  (1283-1336) 
{Durar,  II,  244). 

241  Fawa’it,  literally  ‘derelictions’,  i.e.  prayers  performed  at  other  than 
the  regular  hours  to  compensate  for  their  omission  at  the  proper  times.  Until 
this  has  been  done,  later  prayers  are  not  valid  (see  Mouradja  d’Ohsson, 
Tableau  de  V empire  ottoman,  II,  153-4). 

133 


SYRIA 


teacher  of  writing  teaches  nothing  else.  Among  the  professors 
at  the  mosque  of  Damascus  were  the  learned  and  pious 
Burhan  al-Din  Ibn  al-Firkah,  the  Shafbite;242  the  learned  and 
pious  Nur  al-Din  Abu'l-Yusr  Ibn  al-Sayigh,  a  man  celebrated 
for  his  virtue  and  uprightness243 — when  Jalal  al-Din  al- 
Qazwini  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  [Chief]  Qadi  at  Cairo, 
the  robe  of  honour  and  diploma  of  appointment  to  the 
qadi-ship  of  Damascus  was  sent  to  Abu’l-Yusr,  but  he 
214  declined  to  accept  office;  |  the  learned  imam  Shihab  al-Din 
Ibn  Jahbal,244  one  of  the  principal  ‘ulama,  who  fled  from 
Damascus  when  Abu’l-Yusr  declined  the  qadi-ship  of  the 
city,  fearing  lest  he  should  be  invested  as  qadi  (when  news  of 
this  was  brought  to  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  he  appointed  as  qadi 
of  Damascus  the  Grand  Shaikh  in  Egypt,  the  pole  of  the 
mystics  and  tongue  of  the  dialectics,  ‘Ala  al-Din  al-Qunawi,245 
one  of  the  principal  doctors  of  the  law);  the  worthy  imam 
Badr  al-Din  ‘All  al-Sakhawi  the  Malikite246  (God's  mercy  on 
them  all). 

The  qadts  of  Damascus.  We  have  already  spoken  of  the 
Chief  Qadi  of  the  Shafihtes  in  the  city,  Jalal  al-Din  Muham¬ 
mad  b.  ‘Abd  al-Rahman  al-Qazwini.  As  for  the  qadi  of  the 
Malikites,  he  was  Sharaf  al-Din  Ibn  Khafib  al-Fayyum,247  a 

242  Taj  al-Din  al-Fazari  ‘Abd  al-Rahman  b.  Ibrahim  b.  Siba‘  al-Firkah 
(1227-91)  was  the  most  noted  Shafi‘1  scholar  of  his  age  ( Davis ,  I,  108-9).  His 
son  Burhan  al-Din  Abu  Ishaq  Ibrahim  (1262-1328)  succeeded  him  as  mufti 
and  shaikh  of  the  Badara/iya  college,  but  refused  judicial  office  (Darts,  I, 
208;  Durar,  I,  34-5). 

243  Badr  al-Din  Muhammad  b.  Muhammad  al-Ansari  (1277-1338),  son  of  a 
former  Chief  Qadi  and  shaikh  of  the  Dimaghiya  college.  He  was  offered  the 
chief  qadi-ship  in  1327  and  again  in  1334.  Ibn  Battuta  has  either  mistaken 
his  title  (cf.  n.  246  below),  or  confused  him  with  his  brother  or  nephew  Nur 
al-Din  Muhammad,  the  latter  of  whom  became  Shafi‘1  qadi  at  Aleppo  in 
1343  (Durar,  IV,  226). 

244  Abu’l-‘Abbas  Ahmad  b.  Yahya  (1271-1333),  shaikh  of  the  Badara’iya 
college  after  the  death  of  Ibn  al-Firkah.  His  elder  brother  Muhyi’l-Din 
Isma'il  (1267-1340)  was  shaikh  of  the  Atabekiya  college  and  a  noted  mufti 
(Durar,  I,  329,  383;  Darts,  I,  133,  209). 

245  ‘All  b.  Asma‘11  b.  Yusuf  al-Qunawi  (i.e.  of  Qonya)  (1269-1329),  former 
shaikh  of  the  Sa'Id  al-Su‘ada  convent  at  Cairo,  appointed  qadi  of  Damascus 
in  August  1327,  and  famous  as  the  commentator  of  the  mystical  works  of 
Ibn  al-‘ArabI  (Durar,  III,  24-8). 

246  Nur  al-Din  (not  Badr  al-Din)  ‘All  b.  ‘Abd  al-Nasir,  one  of  the  leading 
Malikite  scholars  of  his  age,  died  shortly  after  his  appointment  as  Chief 
Qadi  at  Cairo  in  1355  (Durar,  III,  79). 

247  Muhammad,  son  of  the  Chief  Qadi  Mu'in  al-Din  Abu  Bakr  b.  Zafir 

134 


Q  ADIS 

man  of  fine  features  and  carriage,  one  of  the  principal  re¬ 
ligious  leaders,  being  also  Grand  Shaikh  of  the  Sufis.  His  sub¬ 
stitute  in  |  the  judicial  office  was  Shams  al-Din  ibn  al-Qafsi,  215 
and  his  tribunal  was  in  the  Samsamiya  College.248  The  qadi  of 
the  Hanafites  was  Tmad  al-Din  al-Hawrani.249  He  was  a 
judge  of  great  severity;  it  was  to  him  that  wives  and  their 
husbands  used  to  carry  their  cases,  and  a  man  had  only  to 
hear  [spoken]  the  name  of  the  Hanafite  qadi  to  do  justly  [by 
his  wife]  of  his  own  accord  before  coming  in  front  of  him. 
The  qadi  of  the  Hanbalites  was  the  pious  imam  ‘Izz  al-Din 
Ibn  Musallam,  one  of  the  best  of  qadis.250  He  used  to  go 
about  on  an  ass  of  his,  and  died  in  [al-Madina]  the  City  of  the 
Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace),  on  a  journey 
to  the  illustrious  Hijaz. 

Anecdote.  There  was  living  in  Damascus  [a  certain]  Taqi 
al-Din  Ibn  Taimiya,251  one  of  the  principal  Hanbalite 
doctors  there,  a  man  greatly  esteemed  and  able  to  discourse 
on  various  sciences,  but  with  some  kink  in  his  brain.  The 
people  of  Damascus  idolized  him  and  he  used  to  preach  to 
them  from  the  minbar.  One  day  he  made  a  statement  |  of  216 
which  the  doctors  disapproved;  they  carried  the  case  to 
al-Malik  al-Nasir,  who  gave  orders  to  dispatch  him  to  Cairo. 
The  qadis  and  doctors  were  assembled  in  the  audience  hall  of 
al-Malik  al-Nasir,  and  Sharaf  al-Din  al-Zuwawi,  the  Mali- 


al-Hamdani  al-Nuwairi.  He  was  appointed  to  Damascus  in  1319  and  died 
there  in  1337  ( Durar ,  III,  404;  Davis,  II,  16). 

248  See  p.  138,  n.  262.  Shams  al-DIn  Muhammad  b.  Sulaiman  al-Qaf§I 
(i.e.  of  Gafsa,  in  Tunisia)  d.  1343  [Durar,  III,  447). 

249  Not  identified. 

260  Shams  al-Din  Muhammad  b.  Musallam  b.  Malik  (1263-Oct.  1326) 
[Durar,  IV,  258).  His  successor  Muhammad  b.  Sulaiman  b.  Qudama  (1267- 
1331)  had  the  title  of  ‘Izz  al-Din  [Durar,  III,  448). 

251  Taqi  al-Din  Ahmad  b.  ‘Abd  al-Halim,  Ibn  Taimiya,  born  at  Harran  in 
1263,  one  of  the  most  famous  medieval  theologians  in  Islam,  and  spiritual 
ancestor  of  the  Wahhabi  movement  in  Arabia.  His  imprisonment  in  Egypt 
lasted,  with  intervals,  from  1307  to  13 n;  in  1313  he  returned  to  Damascus, 
and  was  imprisoned  there  for  some  months  in  1320  for  refusal  to  obey  the 
sultan's  orders.  His  third  and  last  imprisonment,  in  July  1326,  was  caused 
by  his  issue  of  a  fatwa  denouncing  the  visitation  of  saints’  tombs.  He  died 
in  prison  in  September  1328  and  was  accorded  an  immense  funeral  by  the 
people  of  Damascus.  It  is  difficult  to  understand  how  Ibn  Battuta,  as  he 
claims  below,  actually  saw  him  in  the  pulpit,  if  he  entered  Damascus  only 
in  August  1326  (see  p.  118,  n.  182). 


135 


SYRIA 


kite,252  made  an  accusation  saying  This  man  said  so-and-so’, 
and  enumerating  the  charges  [of  heresy]  brought  against  Ibn 
Taimlya.  He  produced  attestations  to  this  effect,  and  laid 
them  before  the  Chief  Qadi,  who  said  to  Ibn  Taimlya  ‘What 
have  you  to  say?’  He  replied  There  is  no  God  but  God’,  and 
when  the  judge  repeated  his  question  he  made  the  same 
answer.  Consequently  al-Malik  al-Nasir  ordered  him  to  be 
put  in  prison.  He  remained  in  prison  for  some  years  and 
composed  while  in  prison  a  book  on  the  exegesis  of  the  Qur’an, 
which  he  entitled  The  Encompassing  Sea  and  which  ran  to 
about  forty  volumes.  Later  on  his  mother  presented  herself 
before  al-Malik  al-Nasir  and  complained  [of  her  distressed 
condition]  to  him,  so  he  ordered  him  to  be  set  at  liberty,  [and 
he  remained  so]  until  the  same  thing  was  done  by  him  again. 
I  was  in  Damascus  at  that  time  and  was  present  at  his  dis- 

217  course  |  on  the  Friday,  when  he  was  preaching  to  the  people 
from  the  mimbar  and  admonishing  them.  Amongst  other 
things  in  his  address  he  said  ‘Verily,  God  descends  to  the 
sky  over  our  world  in  the  fashion  of  this  descent  of  mine’,  and 
stepped  down  one  step  of  the  minbar.253  A  Malikite  doctor 
known  as  Ibn  al-Zahra’  contradicted  him  and  denounced 
what  he  had  said,  but  the  populace  rushed  upon  this  doctor 
and  beat  him  with  their  hands  and  shoes  so  severely  that  his 
turban  fell  off  and  a  silken  skullcap  was  found  upon  his  head. 
Inveighing  against  him  for  wearing  this,254  they  haled  him 
before  the  house  of  ‘Izz  al-Din  Ibn  Musallam,  the  qadi  of  the 
Hanbalites,  who  ordered  him  to  be  imprisoned  and  after¬ 
wards  inflicted  a  punishment  upon  him.  The  Malikite  and 
Shafi‘ite  doctors  protested  against  his  being  punished  and 
carried  the  matter  before  the  king  of  the  amirs,  Saif  al-Din 
Tankiz,  who  was  a  governor  of  the  good  and  upright  kind. 
Tankiz  sent  a  report  to  al-Malik  al-Nasir  on  the  matter  and 

218  drew  up  a  legal  attestation  |  against  Ibn  Taimiya  charging 
him  with  various  objectionable  statements,  such  as  that  a 
man  who  makes  a  threefold  repudiation  [of  his  wife]  in  a 

252  Jamal  al-Din  (not  Sharaf  al-Din)  Muhammad  b.  Sulaiman,  of  Berber 
origin,  Malikite  qadi  at  Damascus  1288-1317,  and  noted  for  his  harshness 
(Durar,  III,  448). 

253  By  this  action  he  contradicted  the  orthodox  doctrine  that  the  actions 
of  God  are  not  to  be  anthropomorphized. 

264  The  wearing  of  silk  garments  is  disapproved  in  Islamic  law. 

136 


IBN  TAIMIYA 


single  phrase  is  bound  only  by  a  single  repudiation,255  and 
that  a  traveller  the  object  of  whose  journey  is  to  visit  the 
Illustrious  Tomb  [of  the  Prophet]  (God  increase  it  in  sweet¬ 
ness)  ought  not  to  [take  advantage  of  the  legal  dispensation 
allowed  to  travellers  to]  curtail  the  prayers,  and  other  things 
of  a  similar  kind.  He  sent  the  attestation  to  al-Malik  al-Nasir, 
who  gave  orders  to  imprison  Ibn  Taimlya  in  the  citadel, 
which  was  done,  and  he  remained  in  prison  until  his  death. 

The  colleges  of  Damascus.  You  must  know  that  the  ShafPites 
have  at  Damascus  a  number  of  colleges,  the  largest  of  which 
is  the  ‘Adiliya.256  It  is  here  that  the  Chief  QadI  delivers 
judgment.  Facing  it  is  the  Zahirlya  College,257  containing 
the  tomb  of  the  al-Malik  al-Zahir,  and  in  it  are  held  the 
sessions  of  the  qadi's  substitutes.  Amongst  his  substitutes 
was  Fakhr  al-Dln  al-Qibtl  [that  is,  the  Copt],258  whose  father 
was  one  of  the  Coptic  secretaries  |  and  embraced  Islam,  and  2i9 
Jamal  al-Dln  Ibn  Jumla,259  who  afterwards  held  the  post  of 
Chief  QadI  of  the  ShafPites  and  was  dismissed  for  a  matter 
which  necessitated  his  removal  from  office. 

Anecdote.  There  lived  at  Damascus  the  pious  shaikh 
Zahlr  al-Dln  al-‘AjamI,  and  Saif  al-Dln  Tanklz,  the  Malik  al- 
Umara/,  was  a  disciple  of  his  and  held  him  in  honour.  He  was 
present  one  day  at  the  Hall  of  Justice  before  the  Malik 
al-Umara/,  and  the  four  qadls  were  present  also.  The  Chief 

266  This  was  in  fact  the  primitive  doctrine,  but  was  reformed  by  the  second 
caliph,  ‘Omar,  who  ruled  that  a  man  who  uses  the  formula  of  repudiation 
three  times  has  made  a  triple  and  final  repudiation  of  his  wife  and  cannot 
recall  his  divorce.  (The  original  doctrine  has  recently  been  reintroduced  into 
the  Egyptian  courts.) 

256  Begun  by  Nur  al-Din  and  completed  by  Saladin’s  brother  al-'Adil 
(Saphadin,  reigned  1196-1218)  and  the  latter’s  son  al-Mu‘az?am,  to  the 
north  of  the  Great  Mosque.  The  building,  as  well  as  the  Zahirlya  college 
opposite  it,  is  still  intact. 

257  Built  by  the  Mamluk  sultan  al-Malik  al-Zahir  Baibars  (1260-77)  on 
the  site  of  the  Dar  al-'Aqiql,  the  house  of  Saladin’s  father,  opposite  and  to 
the  west  of  the  ‘Adiliya  college. 

268  Fakhr  al-Dln  (‘Pride  of  the  Faith’)  was  a  title  frequently  given  to  con¬ 
verted  Copts,  and  it  is  difficult  to  identify  this  personage  among  the  numerous 
homonyms  mentioned  in  this  period. 

259  Yusuf  b.  Ibrahim  b.  Jumla  al-Muhajjl  (1287-1338),  from  Muhajja  in 
Hawran,  appointed  to  the  Shafi'ite  qadl-ship  in  1332,  and  held  it  for  two 
years,  when  he  was  dismissed  and  imprisoned  for  a  time  (to  the  indignation 
of  the  Shafi/ites)  (Subkl,  Tabaqat  al-Shafilya ,  VI,  250).  The  account  of  this 
incident  given  in  Durar,  IV,  443,  is  on  much  the  same  lines  as  that  of  Ibn 
Battuta. 


137 


SYRIA 


Qadi  Jamal  al-Dln  I  bn  Jumla  related  a  story.  Zahlr  al-Din 
said  to  him  ‘You  lie’,  whereupon  the  qadi,  indignant  at  this 
affront  and  exasperated  against  him,  said  to  the  amir  ‘How 
dare  he  give  me  the  lie  in  your  presence?’  The  amir  replied  to 
him  'Judge  him  yourself’,  and  delivered  Zahlr  al-Dln  over  to 
him,  thinking  that  he  would  be  content  with  that  and  do  him 
no  harm.  But  the  qadi  had  him  brought  to  the  ‘Adillya 

220  College  |  and  gave  him  two  hundred  stripes,  after  which  he 
was  paraded  on  an  ass  through  the  city  of  Damascus,  with  a 
crier  who  proclaimed  his  crime  and  every  time  that  he  came 
to  the  end  of  his  proclamation  gave  him  a  blow  on  the  back, 
for  so  is  the  custom  in  their  city.  When  this  was  told  to  the 
Malik  al-Umara’  he  most  strongly  disapproved  of  it  and  had 
the  qadls  and  jurists  assembled.  They  agreed  unanimously 
that  the  qadi  was  at  fault  and  that  his  judgment  was  contrary 
to  [the  accepted  rules  of]  his  school,  for  in  al-Shafi’I’s  view  a 
discretionary  punishment  must  not  amount  to  the  [least] 
punishment  laid  down  in  the  Law.260  The  Malikite  Chief  Qadi, 
Sharaf  al-Dln,  said:  ‘I  give  judgment  that  he  is  guilty  of  violat¬ 
ing  the  Law’,  and  a  report  to  that  effect  was  sent  to  al-Malik 
al-Nasir,  who  removed  him  from  office  in  consequence. 

The  Hanafites  [also]  have  many  colleges  [at  Damascus],  the 
largest  of  them  being  the  college  of  the  Sultan  Nur  al-Dln, 
where  the  Hanafite  Chief  Qadi  delivers  judgment.261  The 
Malikites  have  three  colleges  at  Damascus:  the  Samsamlya,262 
where  the  Malikite  Chief  Qadi  has  his  residence  and  holds  his 

221  tribunal;  the  |  Nuriya  college  established  by  the  Sultan  Nur 
al-Dln  Mahmud  b.  ZankI;263  and  the  Sharabishlya  college, 
founded  by  the  merchant  Shihab  al-Dln  al-Sharabishl.264  The 

260  The  lightest  punishment  formally  laid  down  in  the  Law  is  forty  stripes 
for  drinking  intoxicants.  For  the  Shafi'ite  rule  see  Abu  Shuja/,  p.  36,  §  5,  in 
E.  Sachau,  Muhammedanisches  Recht  (Berlin,  1897);  in  the  Malikite  school 
no  such  limitation  is  placed  on  discretionary  punishments. 

261  Built  by  Nur  al-Din  on  the  site  of  the  palace  of  the  Umayyad  caliph 
Hisham  (d.  743),  and  still  in  existence  in  the  Tailors’  Market. 

262  Re-established  in  1318  on  an  endowment  created  by  Ghabriyal 
(Gabriel)  al-Asmari,  a  converted  Copt,  who  was  subsequently  charged  with 
debasing  the  currency,  mulcted  of  his  fortune,  and  died  in  1333/4,  after 
which  the  college  appears  to  have  languished.  It  was  situated  near  the 
Jabiya  Gate  (see  n.  266  below). 

263  Usually  ascribed  to  Saladin  (Salah  al-Din),  and  more  commonly  called 
the  Salahiya  college. 

264  Ahmad  b.  Nur  al-Dawla  ‘Ali  b.  Abi’l-Majd,  d.  1333.  The  name  means 

138 


COLLEGES  AND  GATES 


Hanbalites  have  many  colleges,  the  largest  of  them  being  the 
Najmlya  college.265 

The  gates  of  Damascus.  The  city  of  Damascus  has  eight  gates, 
amongst  them  being  the  Faradis  [Gardens]  Gate,  the  Jabiya 
Gate,  and  the  Little  Gate.266  Between  the  two  last-named 
is  a  cemetery  in  which  lies  a  great  number  of  Companions  of 
the  Prophet  and  martyrs  and  men  of  subsequent  generations. 

Muhammad  b.  Juzayy  adds:  Very  elegantly  has  a  modern 
poet  of  Damascus  said: 

Her  signs  Damascus  advertise  a  pleasant  plot  of  Paradise,  | 

For  see,  in  reckoning  gate  with  gate,  does  not  their  number  222 
come  to  eight?267 

Some  of  the  tombs  and  places  of  visitation  there.  Amongst 
these,  in  the  burial  ground  lying  between  the  two  gates,  the 
Jabiya  Gate  and  the  Little  Gate,  is  the  grave  of  Umm 
Habiba  daughter  of  Abu  Sufyan,  the  Mother  of  the  Faith¬ 
ful,268  the  grave  of  her  brother  Mu'awiya  the  Commander  of 
the  Faithful,  the  grave  of  Bilal,  muezzin  of  the  Apostle  of 
God269  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace  and  be  pleased  with 
them  all),  and  those  of  Uwais  al-Qaranl270  and  Ka‘b  al- 
Ahbar271  (God  be  pleased  with  them). 

‘manufacturer  of  sharbushes’,  the  sharbilsh  being  a  high  conical  cap  worn 
by  the  Turkish  soldiers. 

265  The  Najmlya  was  a  convent,  not  a  college,  founded  by  Najm  al-Din 
Ayyub,  father  of  Saladin.  The  chief  Hanbalite  colleges  at  this  time  were  the 
Jawziya,  founded  about  1230,  and  the  ‘Omariya,  in  al-Salihlya,  mentioned 
below  (seep.  144,  n.  290). 

286  The  Faradis  or  Paradise  Gate  was  in  the  middle  of  the  north  wall, 
directly  to  the  north  of  the  Umayyad  Mosque;  the  Jabiya  Gate  at  the 
western  end  of  Straight  Street,  the  Little  Gate  in  the  south  wall,  eastward 
of  the  south-west  corner  of  the  city.  See  Fig.  2,  p.  122. 

267  In  the  medieval  view  (cf.  Dante),  Paradise  was  constructed  in  eight 
stories,  each  with  its  own  gate. 

268  I.e.  wife  of  the  Prophet.  She  died  in  Madina  in  664  and  was  almost 
certainly  buried  there. 

269  Bilal  b.  Rabah  was  an  Abyssinian  freedman  of  the  Prophet  and  his 
first  muezzin.  He  took  part  in  the  expedition  to  Syria  and  is  said  to  have 
died  at  Damascus  in  641.  The  cenotaph  still  exists  in  the  cemetery  outside 
the  Little  Gate  (J.  Sourdel-Thoumine,  Les  monuments  ayyoubides  de  Damas, 

IV  (Paris,  1950),  224-8). 

270  A  Kufan  of  the  South  Arabian  tribe  of  Murad,  whose  piety  and  asceti¬ 
cism  gained  him  a  reputation  for  saintliness  at  an  early  period.  The  traveller 
al-Harawi  (d.  1215)  mentions  several  sites  reputed  to  be  his  grave  and  gives 
preference  to  that  at  al-Raqqa. 

271  The  inscribed  stone  of  the  tomb  of  Ka‘b  still  exists.  He  was  a  Jew 

139 


SYRIA 


223 


I  found  in  [the  book  called]  The  Book  of  the  Marker  [or 
Embroiderer ]  in  explanation  of  the  Sahth  of  Muslim  by  al- 
Qurtubi272  that  a  number  of  the  Companions  of  the  Prophet 
were  joined  by  Uwais  al-Qaranl  on  their  way  from  al-Madlna 
to  Syria.  He  died  in  the  course  of  the  journey,  in  an  unin¬ 
habited  and  waterless  wilderness,  and  they  were  perplexed 
about  his  [preparation  for  burial],  but  on  alighting  they  found 
aromatics,  grave  clothes,  and  water.  They  were  astonished 
at  this,  |  and  having  washed  and  shrouded  him,  prayed  over 
him  and  buried  him,  they  rode  away.  Then  one  of  them  said 
‘How  can  we  leave  his  grave  unmarked?’  and  they  returned 
to  the  place,  but  could  find  no  trace  of  the  grave.  Ibn  Juzayy 
adds:  It  is  said  also  that  Uwais  was  killed  at  Siffin  [while 
fighting]  on  the  side  of  ‘All  (on  him  be  peace),273  and  this  is 
the  truer  story,  if  God  will. 

Next  to  the  Jabiya  Gate  is  the  East  Gate,274  by  which 
there  is  a  cemetery  containing  the  grave  of  Ubayy  b.  Ka‘b,275 
the  Companion  of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace),  and  also  the  grave  of  the  pious  devotee  Rislan,276 
known  as  the  Grey  Falcon. 

Anecdote  on  the  reason  of  his  being  called  by  this  name.  It  is 
related  that  the  sainted  shaikh  Ahmad  al-Rifa‘I  (God  be 
pleased  with  him)  had  his  place  of  residence  at  Umm  ‘Ubaida 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  city  of  Wasit.277  Between  the 

of  Yemen,  converted  to  Islam  and  frequently  cited  in  early  Muslim  writings 
as  an  authority  in  biblical  lore.  Most  early  historians  state  that  he  was 
buried  in  Hims,  not  in  Damascus. 

272  Ahmad  b.  ‘Omar  al-Ansari,  a  Malikite  scholar,  died  in  Alexandria  in 
1258.  For  the  Sahlh  of  Muslim  see  p.  144,  n.  289. 

273  The  plain  of  Siffin,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  Euphrates  opposite 
Qal'at  Ja'bar,  was  the  scene  of  an  inconclusive  battle  in  656  between  the 
Iraqi  army  led  by  ‘All  (see  p.  256,  n.  39)  and  the  Syrian  under  the  later 
Umayyad  caliph  Mu'awiya. 

274  The  East  Gate,  also  called  St.  Paul’s  Gate,  still  exists.  See  Fig.  2. 

275  A  Madinian,  who  was  one  of  Muhammad’s  secretaries  and  made  one  of 
the  earliest  recensions  of  the  Qur’an.  He  died,  however,  in  Madina  about 
650. 

276  Arslan  (popularly  pronounced  Rislan)  b.  Ya'qub  b.  ‘Abd  al-Rahman  b. 
'Abdallah  al-Ja‘bari,  died  c.  1150;  he  was  a  noted  devotee,  and  was  revered 
almost  as  a  patron-saint  at  Damascus.  The  origin  of  Ibn  Battuta’s  story  has 
not  been  traced. 

277  Shaikh  Ahmad  al-Rifa'i  (d.  1182),  founder  of  the  Rifa‘1  order  of  sufis. 
For  him  and  the  convent  of  his  order  at  Umm  ‘Ubaida  see  vol.  II  ( Selections , 
p.  86  and  n.  6). 


I40 


CEMETERIES 


friend  of  God  Most  High,  Abu  Madyan  Shu‘aib  b.  al- 
Husain,278  |  and  al-Rifa‘I  there  was  a  spiritual  brotherhood  224 
and  correspondence,  and  it  is  said  that  each  of  them  used  to 
salute  his  friend  morning  and  evening  and  the  other  returned 
his  salutations.  Shaikh  Ahmad  had  a  few  palm  trees  near  his 
convent,  and  one  year,  on  cutting  down  their  fruit  as  usual, 
he  left  one  cluster  of  dates  hanging  and  said  ‘This  is  for  my 
brother  Shu‘aib\  The  same  year  Shaikh  Abu  Mactyan  made 
the  pilgrimage,  and  they  met  at  the  holy  station  at  ‘Arafa. 
Shaikh  Ahmad  had  with  him  his  servitor  Rislan,  and  as  the 
two  [saints]  talked  together  and  the  shaikh  told  [Abu 
Madyan]  about  the  bunch  of  dates,  Rislan  said  to  him  ‘By  thy 
command,  O  my  master,  I  shall  fetch  it’.  The  shaikh  gave  him 
permission,  and  he  departed  at  once,  came  back  to  him  with 
the  cluster  and  laid  it  in  front  of  them.  Those  in  the  convent 
related  that  on  the  evening  of  the  day  of  ‘Arafa  they  saw  a 
grey  falcon  which  |  swooped  down  upon  the  palm  tree,  cut  225 
through  [the  stalk  of]  that  cluster  and  bore  it  off  into  the  air. 

To  the  west  of  Damascus  is  a  cemetery  known  as  the 
Tombs  of  the  Martyrs,279  containing  the  graves  of  Abu‘l- 
Darda/,  his  wife  Umm  al-Darda/,  Fudala  b.  ‘Obaid,  Wathila 
b.  al-Asqa‘  and  Sahl  b.  Hanzallya,  of  those  Companions  who 
took  the  oath  [to  the  Prophet]  under  the  tree  (God  be  pleased 
with  them  all).  In  a  village  called  al-Maniha,  to  the  east  and 
at  a  distance  of  four  miles  from  Damascus,  is  the  grave  of 
Sa‘d  b.  ‘Obada  (God  be  pleased  with  him).280  Over  the  grave 
there  is  a  small  and  nicely  built  mosque,  and  at  his  head  is  a 

278  Abu  Madyan,  born  near  Seville  about  1126,  travelled  to  the  East  and 
on  returning  to  the  Maghrib  became  a  leading  exponent  of  sufi  mysticism. 

He  died  near  Tlemsen  in  1197,  and  his  tomb  at  al-'Ubbad  is  still  one  of  the 
chief  sanctuaries  in  North  Africa. 

279  Abu’l-Darda,  ‘Uwaimir  b.  Zaid,  of  the  Madinian  tribe  of  Khazraj,  an 
early  authority  on  Tradition,  acted  as  qadi  in  Damascus  and  died  there  in 
651.  Fudala  b.  ‘Obaid,  of  the  Madinian  tribe  of  Aws,  was  qadl  of  Damascus 
under  the  Umayyad  caliph  Mu'awiya.  Wathila,  a  tribesman  converted  in 
the  last  year  of  Muhammad’s  life,  died  in  Jerusalem  in  702  or  704.  Sahl  b. 
Hanzallya  was  a  Madinian  Companion  who  emigrated  to  Damascus. 

280  Al-Maniha  is  in  the  Ghuta.  Sa‘d  b.  ‘Obada  was  elected  as  chief  of  the 
tribe  of  Khazraj  in  Madina  after  Muhammad’s  death,  but  the  election  was 
voided  by  the  subsequent  election  of  Abu  Bakr  as  caliph.  Sa'd  refused 
allegiance  to  Abu  Bakr  and  his  successor  ‘Omar,  and  emigrated  to  Syria, 
where  he  died  in  Hawran  in  636;  according  to  the  legend  he  was  killed  by  the 
jinn  (seep.  74,  n.  18). 


SYRIA 


stone  with  this  inscription:  This  is  the  grave  of  Sa‘d  b. 
‘Obada,  Chief  of  the  Khazraj  and  Companion  of  the  Apostle 
of  God,  God  bless  and  give  him  peace/  In  a  village  to  the 
south  of  the  town  and  a  league  distant  from  it,  is  the  tomb  of 
Umm  Kulthum,  daughter  of  ‘All  b.  Abu  Talib  by  Fatima 

226  (upon  them  |  be  peace).281  It  is  said  that  her  name  was  Zainab, 
and  that  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  sur- 
named  her  Umm  Kulthum  because  of  her  resemblance  to  her 
maternal  aunt,  Umm  Kulthum,  the  daughter  of  the  Apostle 
of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace).  Over  the  tomb  is  a 
noble  mosque  and  it  is  surrounded  by  dwelling-houses  and 
possessed  of  endowments.  The  people  of  Damascus  call  it  the 
grave  of  the  Sitt  [‘Lady’]  Umm  Kulthum.  [In  the  western 
cemetery]  there  is  another  tomb  which  is  said  to  be  that  of 
Sukaina,  daughter  of  al-Husain  b.  ‘All  (on  him  be  peace).282 
In  the  congregational  mosque  of  al-Nairab,  one  of  the  villages 
of  Damascus,  and  in  a  chamber  on  its  eastern  side,  is  a  tomb 
said  to  be  that  of  the  mother  of  Mary283  (on  her  be  peace).  In 
a  village  called  Darayya,  four  miles  to  the  west  of  the  town, 
are  the  graves  of  Abu  Muslim  al-Khawlanl  and  Abu 
Sulaiman  al-Daranl  (God  be  pleased  with  them).284 

Among  the  sanctuaries  of  Damascus  which  are  celebrated 
for  their  blessed  power  is  the  Mosque  of  the  Footprints 
(Mas j  id  al-Aqdam),  which  lies  two  miles  to  the  south  of 

227  Damascus,285  alongside  the  main  highway  |  which  leads  to  the 
illustrious  Hijaz,  Jerusalem  and  Egypt.  It  is  a  large  mosque, 
abundant  in  blessing,  and  possessing  many  endowments,  and 
the  people  of  Damascus  hold  it  in  great  veneration.  The 
footprints  from  which  it  derives  its  name  are  certain  foot- 

281  The  village  is  Rawiya,  three  miles  south  of  Damascus.  The  Damascene 
historian  Ibn  ‘Asakir  (vol.  II,  i,  80)  denies  the  identity  of  this  Umm  Kulthum 
with  either  of  the  two  mentioned  in  this  passage. 

282  This  lady,  famous  in  early  Muslim  history  for  her  brilliant  marriages 
and  her  ‘salon’,  was  almost  certainly  buried  in  Madina.  For  al-Husain  b. 
‘All  see  p.  46,  n.  140. 

283  Al-Nairab  was  in  the  western  outskirts  of  Damascus  and  no  longer 
exists  as  a  separate  place.  For  the  reputed  association  of  the  Holy  Family 
with  Damascus  see  below,  p.  146,  n.  297. 

284  Al-Khawlani,  a  zealous  tribal  convert,  died  c.  682.  Al-Daranl,  from 
this  village  of  Darayya,  a  noted  traditionist,  d.  849/50. 

285  Now  in  the  southern  suburb  of  Damascus  called  al-Maidan.  The  legend 
which  connects  the  footprint  with  Moses  is  denied  by  al-HarawI  (see  p.  139, 
n.  270). 


142 


THE  MOSQUE  OF  THE  FOOTPRINTS 

prints  impressed  upon  a  rock  there,  which  are  said  to  be  the 
print  of  the  foot  of  Moses  (on  him  be  peace).  Within  this 
mosque  there  is  a  small  chamber  containing  a  stone  with  the 
following  inscription  upon  it:  ‘A  certain  saintly  man  used  to 
see  the  Chosen  [i.e.  Muhammad]  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace)  in  his  sleep,  and  he  would  say  to  him  “Here  is  the  grave 
of  my  brother  Moses  (on  him  be  peace)”.’  On  the  road  in  the 
vicinity  of  this  mosque  is  a  place  called  the  Red  Sandhill;  and 
near  Jerusalem  and  Jericho  there  is  a  place  which  is  also 
called  the  Red  Sandhill  and  which  is  revered  by  the  Jews.286 

Anecdote.  I  witnessed  at  the  time  of  the  Great  Plague  at 
Damascus  in  the  latter  part  |  of  the  month  of  Second  Rabf  228 
of  the  year  49  [July  1348], 287  a  remarkable  instance  of  the 
veneration  of  the  people  of  Damascus  for  this  mosque. 
Arghun-Shah,  king  of  the  amirs  and  the  Sultan’s  viceroy,288 
ordered  a  crier  to  proclaim  through  Damascus  that  the  people 
should  fast  for  three  days  and  that  no  one  should  cook  in  the 
bazaar  during  the  daytime  anything  to  be  eaten  (for  most  of 
the  people  there  eat  no  food  but  what  has  been  prepared  in 
the  bazaar).  So  the  people  fasted  for  three  successive  days, 
the  last  of  which  was  a  Thursday.  At  the  end  of  this  period 
the  amirs,  sharlfs,  qadls,  doctors  of  the  Law,  and  all  other 
classes  of  the  people  in  their  several  degrees,  assembled  in  the 
Great  Mosque,  until  it  was  filled  to  overflowing  with  them, 
and  spent  the  Thursday  night  there  in  prayers  and  liturgies 
and  supplications.  Then,  after  performing  the  dawn  prayer 
[on  the  Friday  morning],  they  all  went  out  together  on  foot 
carrying  Qur’ans  in  their  hands — the  amirs  too  barefooted. 

286  According  to  a  Tradition  reported  by  al-Bukhari  (see  p.  154,  n.  319 
below),  Muhammad  is  said  to  have  described  the  grave  of  Moses  as  being 
‘under  the  Red  Sandhill’  ( al-Kathlb  al-ahmar)  (Sahih,  ed.  Krehl,  II,  359,  1). 
This  is  usually  identified  with  a  site  south-west  of  Jericho,  over  which  a 
mosque  was  built  by  the  Mamluk  sultan  Baibars  in  1270,  and  subsequently 
popular  as  a  pilgrimage  shrine  under  the  name  of  Nebi  Musa.  (See  account  of 
a  visit  by  Sh.  ‘Abd  al-Ghani  al-NabulusI  in  the  eighteenth  century  in 
ZDMG,  1882,  364-5,  and  of  a  pre-1914  pilgrimage  by  H.  H.  Spoer  in 
ZDPV,  1909,  207  ff.)  The  origin  of  the  claim  made  for  the  presumed  tomb 
in  the  Maidan  of  Damascus  (and  defended  by  a  number  of  Muslim  writers) 
seems  to  be  unknown;  cf.,  however,  the  number  of  sites  in  central  Syria 
shown  as  tombs  of  persons  associated  with  Moses;  Jewish  Travellers,  ed. 

E.  N.  Adler  (London,  1930),  124-5,  and  p.  85,  n.  68  above. 

287  On  his  return  journey  from  the  Far  East  ( Selections ,  p.  305). 

288  A  mamluk  of  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  arrested  and  executed  in  1349. 

143 


L 


T.O.I.B. 


SYRIA 


229  The  entire  population  of  the  city  joined  in  the  exodus,  |  male 
and  female,  small  and  large;  the  Jews  went  out  with  their 
book  of  the  Law  and  the  Christians  with  their  Gospel,  their 
women  and  children  with  them;  the  whole  concourse  of  them 
in  tears  and  humble  supplications,  imploring  the  favour  of 
God  through  His  Books  and  His  Prophets.  They  made  their 
way  to  the  Mosque  of  the  Footprints  and  remained  there  in 
supplication  and  invocation  until  near  midday,  then  returned 
to  the  city  and  held  the  Friday  service.  God  Most  High 
lightened  their  affliction;  the  number  of  deaths  in  a  single  day 
reached  a  maximum  of  two  thousand,  whereas  the  number 
rose  in  Cairo  and  Old  Cairo  to  twenty-four  thousand  in  a  day. 

At  the  East  Gate  of  Damascus  is  a  white  minaret,  said  to 

be  that  upon  which  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace)  will  descend,  as  is 

stated  in  the  Sahih  of  Muslim.289 
•  •  • 

The  suburbs  of  Damascus.  Damascus  is  surrounded  on  all 

230  sides  except  |  the  East  by  suburbs  of  extensive  area,  the 
interiors  of  which  are  pleasanter  than  the  interior  of  Damas¬ 
cus  itself,  owing  to  the  narrowness  which  characterizes  its 
lanes.  To  the  north  of  the  city  is  the  suburb  of  al-Salihlya,  a 
great  city  [in  itself],290  with  a  bazaar  of  unparalleled  beauty, 
and  containing  a  congregational  mosque  and  a  hospital. 
There  is  a  college  there,  known  as  the  college  of  Ibn  ‘Omar,291 
which  is  endowed  for  the  benefit  of  aged  men  and  men  of 
mature  age  who  desire  to  learn  the  holy  Qur’an,  to  whom, 
and  to  those  who  teach  them,  there  is  a  regular  issue  of  food 
and  clothing  sufficient  for  their  needs.  In  Damascus  there  is 
a  college  of  the  same  kind,  known  as  the  college  of  Ibn 

289  The  descent  of  Jesus  is  included  among  the  premonitory  ‘signs’  of  the 
Last  Day  in  several  Traditions  quoted  in  the  canonical  collection  made  by 
Muslim  b.  al-Hajjaj  (817-73),  second  in  reputation  only  to  that  of  al- 
Bukharl  (see  p.  154,  n.  319  below);  Sahih  (ed.  Cairo  1349  h.),  XVIII,  22,  27, 
29. 

290  The  suburb  owes  its  foundation  to  Abu  ‘Omar  (not  Ibn  ‘Omar) 
Muhammad  b.  Ahmad  b.  Muhammad  b.  Qudama  al-Maqdisi,  a  pious 
Hanbalite  who  emigrated  from  Jerusalem  to  Damascus  to  escape  from 
crusading  territory,  and  died  there  in  1210.  He  first  stayed  at  the  mosque 
of  Abu  Salih,  outside  the  East  Gate,  and  when  he  and  his  followers  moved 
to  the  flank  of  Mount  Qasiyun  and  established  the  Hanbalite  convent  and 
college  there,  they  were  known  as  ‘the  Salihln’,  whence  the  suburb  acquired 
the  name  of  al-Salihiya  ( Daris ,  II,  100-1). 

291  The  ‘Omarlya  convent  and  college  mentioned  in  the  preceding  note 
and  p.  139,  n.  265  above.  The  building  still  exists,  in  a  ruinous  condition. 

I44 


MOUNT  QASIYUN 

Munajja.292  The  inhabitants  of  al-Salihiya  all  adhere  to  the 
school  of  the  imam  Ahmad  b.  Hanbal  (God  be  pleased  with 
him). 

Qasiyun  and  its  blessed  sanctuaries .293  Qasiyun  is  a  moun¬ 
tain  on  the  north  |  of  Damascus — al-Salihlya  lies  at  its  foot —  23i 
celebrated  for  blessedness,  as  being  the  place  of  ascent  of  the 
Prophets  (on  them  be  peace).  Among  its  holy  sanctuaries  is 
the  cave  in  which  was  born  Abraham  al-Khalll  (on  him 
be  peace).  It  is  a  long  and  narrow  cave,  over  which  [has  been 
built]  a  large  mosque,  with  a  tall  minaret.  It  was  from  that 
cave  that  he  saw  the  star,  the  moon  and  the  sun,  as  is  related 
in  the  Exalted  Book.294  Behind  the  cave  is  his  standing-place, 
to  which  he  used  to  come  out.  I  have  seen  also  in  the  land  of 
al-Traq  a  village  called  Burs,  between  al-Hilla  and  Baghdad, 
in  which  Abraham  (on  him  be  peace)  is  said  to  have  been 
born.  This  village  is  near  the  town  of  Dhud-Kifl  (on  him  be 
peace)  and  contains  his  grave.295 

Another  of  its  sanctuaries,  to  the  west  of  the  cave  of 
Abraham,  is  the  Cave  of  Blood,  above  which  on  the  hill-side 
[can  be  seen]  the  blood  of  Abel,  the  son  of  Adam  (on  him  |  be  232 
peace),  God  having  caused  a  red  trace  of  it  to  remain  on  the 
stones.  This  is  the  place  in  which  his  brother  [Cain]  killed  him, 
and  dragged  his  body  to  the  cave.  It  is  affirmed  that  in  this 
cave  have  prayed  Abraham,  Moses,  Jesus,  Job,  and  Lot  (God 

292  Attached  to  the  Umayyad  Mosque  and  called  after  its  first  shaikh, 
Zain  al-Din  Ibn  al-Munajja  (d.  1296),  one  of  the  teachers  of  Ibn  Taimiya 
(seep.  135,  n.  251). 

293  This  passage  is  from  Ibn  J  ubair,  rearranged  and  with  verbal  changes. 

294  Numerous  legends  from  the  early  days  of  Islam  associated  Abraham 
with  this  cavern.  The  passage  in  the  Qur’an  is  in  Sura  vi,  76-8: 

‘When  the  night  darkened  upon  him,  he  saw  a  star;  he  said,  “This  is  my 
Lord’’;  but  when  it  set  he  said,  “I  love  not  those  who  set”.  Then  when  he 
saw  the  moon  shining,  he  said  “This  is  my  Lord”,  but  when  it  set  he  said, 

“If  my  Lord  guide  me  not,  I  shall  become  one  of  those  who  stray”.  Then 
when  he  saw  the  sun  shining,  he  said,  “This  is  my  Lord,  this  one  is  greater”, 
but  when  it  set  he  said,  “O  my  people,  I  am  quit  of  what  ye  ascribe  as 
partners  [to  God]”.' 

296  Dhu’l-Kifl  is  a  prophet  mentioned  twice  in  the  Qur’an,  and  later  iden¬ 
tified  with  various  biblical  and  other  personages.  The  tomb  in  Kafil,  south 
of  al-Hilla,  formerly  called  Bar  Mallaha,  was  venerated  by  the  J  ews  as  the 
tomb  of  Ezekiel,  with  whom  Dhu’l-Kifl  was  then  identified.  The  birthplace 
of  Abraham  in  al-Traq  is  usually  called  Kutha  Rabba  (see  Harawi,  80; 
also  G.  Le  Strange,  Eastern  Caliphate,  68) .  The  name  Burs  seems  not  to  be 
attested  in  any  other  source. 


145 


SYRIA 


bless  them  all).  Over  it  there  stands  a  mosque  of  solid  con¬ 
struction,  to  which  one  ascends  by  a  flight  of  steps;  it  has 
rooms  and  conveniences  for  residence,  and  is  opened  every 
Monday  and  Thursday,  when  candles  and  lamps  are  lit  in  the 
cave. 

Thirdly,  there  is  a  large  cavern  at  the  top  of  the  mountain 
which  is  called  by  the  name  of  Adam  (on  him  be  peace),  and 
surmounted  by  a  building.  Somewhat  below  it  is  a  cave 
known  as  the  Cave  of  Hunger;  the  story  is  told  that  seventy 
of  the  Prophets  (on  them  be  peace)  took  refuge  in  it,  having 
with  them  only  one  loaf,  and  it  continued  to  circulate 
amongst  them,  as  each  preferred  to  give  it  to  his  neighbour, 
until  they  all  died  together  (God  bless  them).  Over  this  cave 
also  is  a  regularly  constructed  mosque,  and  in  it  lamps  are 

233  kept  burning  night  and  day.  Each  of  these  |  mosques  has 
numerous  endowments  appropriated  to  its  upkeep. 

It  is  asserted  also  that  between  the  Garden  Gate  and  the 
congregational  mosque  of  Qasiyun296  is  the  burial  place  of 
seven  hundred  prophets — others  say  seventy  thousand. 
Outside  the  city  is  the  old  cemetery,  the  burial  place  of  the 
prophets  and  saints,  and  at  the  end  of  it  that  lies  next  to  the 
orchards  is  a  low-lying  piece  of  ground,  which  has  been 
invaded  by  water.  This  is  said  to  be  the  burial  place  of 
seventy  prophets,  but  has  now  become  a  hollow  in  which  the 
water  collects,  and  so  is  preserved  from  being  defiled  by  the 
burial  of  anyone  else  there. 

Al-Rabwa  and  the  villages  in  its  neighbourhood.  At  the  far 
[west]  end  of  Jabal  Qasiyun  is  the  blessed  Hill  ( al-Rabwa ) 
which  is  mentioned  in  the  Qur’an,  ‘furnished  with  security 
and  a  flowing  spring’,  the  refuge  of  Jesus  the  Messiah  and  his 
Mother  (on  them  be  peace).297  It  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 

234  sights  in  the  world  |  and  most  pleasant  of  its  resorts,  and  on  it 
are  lofty  palaces,  noble  buildings,  and  choice  gardens.  The 

296  ‘Congregational  mosque*  ( jami' )  seems  to  be  an  error  for  ‘mountain’, 
possibly  derived  from  a  misreading  of  Ibn  Jubair:  ‘In  the  northern  direction 
from  the  Blessed  (Umayyad)  Mosque,  and  close  to  it,  extending  to  Mount 
Qasiyun.’ 

297  The  tradition  was  supplemented  by  an  elaborate  legend  which  pre¬ 
sented  this  as  the  scene  of  the  Temptation  (Ibn  ‘Asakir,  II,  i,  97-8).  But  the 
traveller  al-Harawi  roundly  denies  the  identification  of  this  Rabwa  with  the 
hill  mentioned  in  the  Qur’an  on  the  ground  that  Jesus  never  visited 
Damascus. 


146 


AL-RABWA 


blessed  Refuge  is  a  small  cave  in  the  middle  part  of  the  hill, 
of  the  size  of  a  small  room,  and  opposite  it  is  a  one-roomed 
building  which  is  said  to  have  been  the  place  of  prayer  of 
al-Khidr  (on  him  be  peace).298  The  people  press  forward 
eagerly  to  make  a  prayer  in  his  hut.  The  Refuge  has  a  small 
iron  door,  and  is  encircled  by  the  mosque;  the  latter  has 
circular  ambulatories  and  a  beautiful  fountain  to  which  the 
water  comes  down  from  above.  It  is  led  through  a  channel  in 
the  wall,  which  connects  with  a  marble  tank,  into  which  the 
water  falls.  There  is  nothing  to  compare  with  it  in  beauty  and 
strangeness  of  shape.  Nearby  are  lavatories  for  the  ceremonial 
ablutions,  supplied  with  running  water. 

This  blessed  hill  is  the  commencement  of  the  gardens  of 
Damascus,  and  contains  the  springs  of  its  waters.299  The 
water  which  flows  from  them  is  divided  into  seven  streams, 
each  taking  a  different  direction,  and  the  place  where  this  is 
done  is  known  as  al-Maqasim.  The  largest  of  these  streams  is 
the  river  called  Tura,  which  cuts  through  the  bottom  of  the 
hill,  where  a  channel  has  been  carved  out  for  it  |  in  the  solid  235 
rock,  like  a  great  cave.300  Sometimes  a  daring  swimmer  will 
plunge  into  the  stream  at  the  upper  end  of  the  hill  and,  swim¬ 
ming  with  powerful  strokes  under  the  water  until  he  makes 
the  passage  of  the  channel,  will  come  out  at  the  lower  end  of 
the  hill,  but  it  is  a  terrible  risk. 

This  hill  overlooks  the  gardens  which  surround  the  city, 
and  in  beauty  and  extent  of  the  prospect  offered  to  the  eyes 
may  boast  of  a  view  which  no  other  hill  possesses,  with  these 
seven  streams  flowing  away  in  diverse  directions,  so  that  the 
vision  is  dazzled  by  the  charm  of  their  junction  and  separa¬ 
tion,  their  swift  current  and  their  gliding  [across  the  plain]. 
But  the  elegance  and  perfect  beauty  of  al-Rabwa  are  too 
great  for  any  description  to  be  adequate.  It  possesses  many 

298  Seep.  123,  n.  203. 

299  The  last  clause  is  not  in  Ibn  Jubair,  and  is  factually  incorrect,  all  the 
streams  being  derived  from  the  Barada  river  at  different  levels.  See  R. 
Tresse,  ‘L’irrigation  dans  la  Ghouta  de  Damas’,  Revue  des  etudes  islamiques, 
1929,  459-573- 

300  This  tunnel,  cutting  through  an  undulation  of  the  hillside  at  Rabwa, 
is  two  and  a  half  metres  high,  three  metres  broad,  and  twenty  metres  long. 
(Photograph  apud  Tresse,  loc.  cit.,  opp.  p.  470).  The  Tura,  together  with  the 
Yazid  canal  ten  metres  above  it,  waters  the  northern  section  of  Damascus 
and  the  Ghuta. 


147 


SYRIA 


endowments  of  fields,  orchards  and  immovable  property, 
from  which  are  met  its  expenses  for  [the  stipends  of]  the  imam 
and  the  muezzin  and  [the  needs  of]  travellers. 

Below  al-Rabwa  is  the  village  of  al-Nairab,301  whose 
gardens  are  so  numerous,  their  shades  so  reinforced,  their 

236  trees  so  thickset,  |  that  no  building  of  it  is  to  be  seen,  except 
those  of  lofty  height.  It  possesses  a  pleasant  bath  house  and 
an  exquisite  congregational  mosque,  the  court  of  which  is 
paved  with  tessellated  marble,  and  which  has  a  fountain  of 
surpassing  beauty  and  a  lavatory  with  many  chambers 
supplied  with  running  water. 

To  the  south  of  this  village  is  the  village  of  al-Mizza,  also 
called  Mizzat  Kalb,  after  the  tribe  of  Kalb  b.  Wabra  b. 
Tha'lab  b.  Hulwan  b.  ‘Umran  b.  Ilhaf  b.  Quda/a,  for  it  was  a 
territory  assigned  to  them.302  From  this  village  is  derived  the 
ethnic  of  the  imam  Hafiz  al-Dunya  Jamal  al-Din  Yusuf 
b.  al-Zakl  al-Kalbi  al-MizzI303  and  many  others  of  the 
‘ulama.  It  is  one  of  the  largest  of  the  villages  of  Damascus, 
and  possesses  a  remarkable  congregational  mosque  and  a 
fountain  of  spring  water.  Most  of  the  villages  of  Damascus 
have  their  own  bath-houses,  congregational  mosques,  and 
bazaars,  and  their  inhabitants  are  exactly  like  the  inhabitants 
of  the  city  in  their  ways  of  living.  | 

237  To  the  east  of  the  town  is  a  village  known  as  Bait  Ilahlya, 
in  which  there  stood  formerly  a  church.304  It  is  said  that 
Azar  used  to  carve  idols  there,  and  then  al-Khalil  (on  him  be 
peace)  would  break  them.  The  church  is  now  a  magnificent 
congregational  mosque,  adorned  with  [a  pavement  of]  tessel¬ 
lated  marble,  of  various  colours  and  arranged  in  the  most 
admirable  order  and  most  decorative  symmetry. 

The  pious  endowments  at  Damascus ,  and  some  of  the  merits 
and  customs  of  its  inhabitants.  The  varieties  of  the  endow¬ 
ments  at  Damascus  and  their  expenditure  are  beyond  com- 

301  See  p.  142,  n.  283. 

302  The  modern  Mezze,  two  and  a  half  miles  west  of  Damascus,  was  at  this 
time  a  considerable  township.  Kalb  was  the  principal  Arab  tribe  in  Central 
Syria  throughout  the  Middle  Ages,  but  other  sources  derive  the  name  from 
the  grave  at  Dihya  al-Kalbi,  a  famous  Companion  of  the  Prophet. 

303  A  noted  contemporary  traditionist,  1256-1341  ( Durar ,  IV,  457). 

304  Generally  called  Bait  Lihya,  to  the  north-east  of  the  city.  It  no  longer 
exists.  Azar  is  the  name  given  in  Muslim  tradition  to  Abraham’s  father 
(called  in  Hebrew  tradition  Terah). 

148 


PIOUS  ENDOWMENTS 


putation,  so  numerous  are  they.  There  are  endowments  in  aid 
of  persons  who  cannot  undertake  the  Pilgrimage,  out  of  which 
are  paid  to  those  who  go  in  their  stead  sums  sufficient  for  their 
needs.  There  are  endowments  for  supplying  wedding  outfits  to 
girls,  to  those  namely  whose  families  are  unable  to  provide 
them  [with  the  customary  paraphernalia].  There  are  endow¬ 
ments  for  the  freeing  of  prisoners,  and  endowments  |  for238 
travellers,  out  of  which  they  are  given  food,  clothing,  and  the 
expenses  of  conveyance  to  their  countries.  There  are  endow¬ 
ments  for  the  improvement  and  paving  of  the  streets,  because 
the  lanes  in  Damascus  all  have  a  pavement  on  either  side  on 
which  the  foot  passengers  walk,  while  riders  use  the  roadway 
in  between.305  Besides  these  there  are  endowments  for  other 
charitable  purposes. 

Anecdote.  As  I  went  one  day  along  a  lane  in  Damascus,  I 
saw  in  it  a  young  slave-boy  out  of  whose  hand  there  had  just 
fallen  a  Chinese  porcelain  dish  (which  they  call  by  the  name 
of  sahn  [i.e.  platter])  and  had  broken  to  bits.  A  crowd 
gathered  round  him  and  one  of  them  said  to  him,  Tick  up  the 
pieces,  and  take  them  with  you  to  the  custodian  of  the 
endowments  for  utensils’.  So  he  picked  them  up,  and  the 
man  went  with  him  to  the  custodian,  to  whom  the  slave 
showed  the  broken  pieces  and  thereupon  received  from  him 
enough  to  buy  a  similar  |  platter.  This  endowment  is  one  of  the  239 
best  of  good  works,  for  the  boy’s  master  would  undoubtedly 
have  beaten  him  for  breaking  the  dish,  or  at  least  have 
scolded  him,  while  he  too  would  have  been  heartbroken  and 
upset  because  of  that.  The  benefaction  is  thus  indeed  a 
mender  of  hearts — may  God  well  reward  him  whose  charitable 
zeal  rose  to  the  height  of  such  an  action. 

The  people  of  Damascus  vie  with  one  another  in  the  build¬ 
ing  and  endowment  of  mosques,  religious  houses,  colleges, 
and  sanctuaries.306  They  have  a  high  opinion  of  the  Moors  and 
freely  entrust  them  with  the  care  of  their  moneys,  wives  and 
children.  Every  man  [of  them]  who  comes  to  the  end  of  his 
resources  in  any  district  of  Damascus  finds  without  exception 

305  The  Arabic  term  rasif  implies  a  raised  footwalk. 

306  The  term  ‘imara  clearly  implies  endowment  as  well  as  construction,  as 
is  shown  by  the  parallel  passage  in  Ibn  Jubair  (275,  15—20).  For  sanctuaries 
(mashahid)  see  p.  126,  n.  212.  The  following  passage,  on  the  people  of  the 
Maghrib  or  ‘Moors',  is  adapted  from  Ibn  Jubair. 

149 


SYRIA 


some  means  of  livelihood  opened  to  him,  either  as  imam  in  a 
mosque,  or  as  a  reciter  in  a  college,  or  by  occupation  of  [a  cell 
in]  a  mosque,  where  his  daily  requirements  are  supplied  to 
him,  or  by  recitation  of  the  Qur’an,  or  employment  as  a 
keeper  at  one  of  the  blessed  sanctuaries,  or  else  he  may  be 
included  in  the  company  of  Sufis  who  live  in  the  convents,  in 

240  receipt  of  a  regular  |  allowance  of  upkeep-money  and  cloth¬ 
ing.  Anyone  who  is  a  stranger  there  living  on  charity  is 
always  protected  from  [having  to  earn  it  at]  the  expense  of 
his  self-respect,  and  carefully  sheltered  from  anything  that 
might  injure  his  dignity.  Those  who  are  manual  workers  or  in 
domestic  service  find  other  means  [of  livelihood] ,  for  example 
as  guardian  of  an  orchard  or  intendant  of  a  mill,  or  in  charge 
of  children,  going  with  them  in  the  morning  to  their  lessons 
and  coming  back  [with  them]  in  the  evening,  and  anyone  who 
wishes  to  pursue  a  course  of  studies  or  to  devote  himself  to 
the  religious  life  receives  every  aid  to  the  execution  of  his 
purpose. 

It  is  one  of  the  laudable  customs  of  the  people  of  Damascus 
that  not  a  man  of  them  breaks  his  fast  during  the  nights  of 
Ramadan  entirely  alone.  Those  of  the  standing  of  amirs, 
qadls  and  notables  invite  their  friends  and  [a  number  of] 
faqlrs  to  breakfast  at  their  houses.  Merchants  and  substantial 
traders  follow  the  same  practice;  the  poor  and  the  country 

241  folk307  for  their  part  |  assemble  each  night  in  the  house  of  one 
of  their  own  number  or  in  a  mosque,  each  brings  what  he  has, 
and  the}^  all  breakfast  together. 

When  I  first  came  to  Damascus,  a  friendship  grew  up 
between  the  Malikite  professor  Nur  al-Dln  as-SakhawI308  and 
me,  and  he  urged  me  to  breakfast  at  his  house  during  the 
nights  of  Ramadan.  After  I  had  visited  him  for  four  nights  I 
had  a  stroke  of  fever  and  absented  myself.  He  sent  out  in 
search  of  me,  and  although  I  excused  myself  on  the  ground 
of  illness  he  would  accept  no  excuse  from  me,  so  I  went  back 
to  his  house  and  spent  the  night  there.  When  I  wished  to  take 


307  Al-badiya,  which  in  Arabic  of  the  Middle  East  is  used  of  bedouins,  is 
here  used  by  Ibn  Battuta  in  the  Maghribine  sense  (cf.  Dozy  and  de  Goeje, 
Description  de  I’Afrique  et  de  I’Espagne  par  Edrisi,  glossary,  s.v.). 

308  The  imam  Nur  al-Dln  ‘All  b.  ‘Abd  al-NasIr,  later  Chief  Qadi  at  Cairo. 
Already  mentioned  by  Ibn  Battuta;  see  above,  p.  134,  n.  246. 

150 


NOTABLE  INHABITANTS 


leave  the  next  morning,  he  would  not  hear  of  it  but  said 
to  me,  'Consider  my  house  as  your  own,  or  as  the  house  of 
your  father  or  brother’,  and  gave  orders  to  send  for  a  doctor 
and  to  have  prepared  for  my  use  in  his  own  house  everything 
that  the  doctor  should  prescribe  in  the  way  of  medicine  or 
diet.  I  remained  in  his  house  in  this  condition  until  the  day  of 
the  Feast  [of  the  Fast-breaking],  when  I  joined  in  the  festival 
prayers  at  the  musalla309  and  God  Most  High  healed  me  of 
what  had  befallen  me.  Meanwhile  |  all  the  money  I  had  for  my  242 
expenses  was  exhausted.  Nur  al-Dln,  learning  this,  hired 
camels  for  me  and  gave  me  travelling  provisions,  etc.,  and 
money  in  addition,  saying  to  me,  'It  will  come  in  useful  for 
anything  of  importance  that  you  may  be  in  need  of’ — may 
God  reward  him  well ! 

There  was  a  worthy  man  at  Damascus,  one  of  the  secre¬ 
taries  of  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  called  'Imad  al-Dln  al-Qaisarani.310 
It  was  his  custom,  whenever  he  heard  of  a  Moor  arriving  in 
Damascus,  to  send  for  him,  to  entertain  him  and  to  make  him 
a  generous  gift.  If  he  found  him  to  possess  religion  and  merit, 
he  would  bid  him  attach  himself  to  his  company,  and  there 
were  a  number  of  such  men  living  permanently  with  him. 
The  same  practice  is  followed  also  by  the  worthy  private 
secretary,  'Ala  al-Dln  Ibn  Ghanim,311  and  a  number  of 
others.  There  was  [another]  worthy  man  there  among  the 
notables  of  the  city,  namely  the  Sahib  'Izz  al-Dln  al- 
QalanisI,312  who  was  distinguished  by  generous  qualities, 
bountiful  actions,  outstanding  merits  |  and  munificence,  and  243 
was  possessed  of  vast  wealth.  They  relate  that  when  al-Malik 

309  The  Musalla  for  festival  prayers  (see  p.  13,  n.  20)  at  Damascus  was 
constructed  by  Saladin’s  brother  Saphadin  (al-Malik  al-‘Adil  Saif  al-Dln, 
d.  1218)  on  the  Maidan  road,  a  short  distance  south  of  the  cemetery  beyond 
the  Jabiya  Gate  (seep.  139,  n.  266). 

310  IsmaTl  b.  Muhammad  b.  ‘Abdallah  (1272-1336),  then  muwaqqi ‘ 
al-dast  (‘dais  secretary’,  who  officiated  at  public  sessions)  at  Damascus,  in 
high  favour  with  Tankiz,  and  widely  reputed  for  piety  and  benevolence 
( Durar ,  I,  378).  The  Qaisaranls,  like  the  Qalanisis,  were  a  family  of  Damas¬ 
cene  notables. 

311  ‘All  b.  Muhammad  b.  Salman  (1253-1336),  famed  for  his  universal 
courtesy  and  charity  [Durar,  III,  103-4).  For  his  brothers  see  p.  89  above. 

312  Abu  Yala  Hamza  b.  Asad  (1251-1338),  in  the  fifth  generation  from  the 
Damascene  historian  of  the  same  name  (d.  1160),  called  ‘Mayor  of  Damas¬ 
cus’  [ra’ls  al-Sham )  and  one  of  the  most  famous  civilian  officials  of  the  time 
[Durar,  II,  75). 

15 1 


SYRIA 


al-Nasir  came  to  Damascus  ‘Izz  al-Dln  entertained  him  and 
all  his  ministers,  mamluks,  and  household  officers  for  three 
days,  and  it  was  on  that  occasion  that  he  gave  him  the  title 

of  Sahib .313 

•  • 

Among  the  merits  of  the  Damascenes  which  deserve  to  be 
related  is  the  fact  that  one  of  their  ancient  kings314  when 
death  came  upon  him  gave  directions  that  he  should  be  buried 
by  the  qibla  of  the  glorified  mosque  and  that  his  grave  should 
be  concealed,  and  further  set  aside  considerable  endowments 
for  Qur'an-readers  to  recite  a  seventh  part  of  the  Holy 
Qur'an  every  day  after  the  dawn  prayer  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  Enclosure  of  the  Companions  (God  be  pleased  with  them), 
where  his  grave  was  situated.  Now  the  recitation  of  the 
Qur'an  over  his  grave  has  gone  on  without  interruption  ever, 
and  this  goodly  custom  has  remained  in  perpetual  observance 
since  his  death. 

It  is  a  custom  of  the  people  of  Damascus  and  all  the  other 
cities  of  that  region  to  go  out  [of  the  covered  part  of  the 
mosques]  after  the  mid-afternoon  prayer  on  the  day  of 
244  ‘Arafa,315  and  to  stand  in  the  courtyard  of  the  mosques,  |  such 
as  the  Sanctuary  of  Jerusalem,  the  Umayyad  congregational 
mosque  [at  Damascus],  etc.  Their  imams  stand  with  them 
bare-headed,  their  bodies  humbly  bowed  in  prayer,  with 
lowly  voice  and  downcast  eyes,  entreating  the  blessing 
of  God.  Observing  thus  the  hour  in  which  the  homagers  of 
God  Most  High  and  pilgrims  to  His  House  stand  at  ‘Arafat, 
they  continue  in  humble  reverence  and  prayer  and  earnest 
supplication,  imploring  the  favour  of  God  Most  High  through 
the  Pilgrims  to  His  House,  until  the  sun  sets,  when  they 
hurriedly  disperse,  in  imitation  of  the  rush  of  the  pilgrims, 
weeping  that  it  has  been  denied  them  to  join  in  that  illus¬ 
trious  station  at  ‘Arafat,  and  praying  God  Most  High  that 
He  may  bring  them  thither  and  not  withhold  from  them  the 

313  Literally  ‘Companion’,  a  title  occasionally  given  to  viziers.  Al-Malik 
al-Nasir  accompanied  the  Egyptian  army  to  Syria  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Mongol  invasion  in  1302,  and  stayed  in  Damascus  from  22  April  to  20  May 
1703  (Zettersteen,  113).  He  stayed  in  Damascus  again  in  January  1310  (see 
p.  159,  n.  15),  and  from  18  February  to  1  March  and  8  to  23  May  1313,  before 

.  and  after  his  pilgrimage  in  that  year. 

314  Apparently  unidentifiable. 

315  The  ninth  of  Dhu’l-Hijja.  For  the  ceremonies  at  ‘Arafa  (or  ‘Arafat)  see 
p.  244  below. 


152 


DAMASCENE  CUSTOMS 

blessing  of  His  acceptance  of  that  which  they  have  done  [on 
this  day] . 

They  observe  also  an  admirable  ceremony  in  accom¬ 
panying  funerals.316  They  walk  in  front  of  the  bier  while  the 
Qur’an-readers  intone  the  Qur’an  in  beautiful  voices  and 
with  affecting  modulations,  at  which  men’s  souls  all  but  take 
wings  for  pity.  They  pray  |  over  the  corpses  in  the  congrega-  245 
tional  mosque,317  opposite  the  enclosure.  If  the  dead  man  was 
one  of  the  imams  of  the  mosque,  or  one  of  its  muezzins  or 
servitors,  they  bring  him  in  while  the  recitation  continues  to 
the  place  where  the  prayer  is  held;  if  he  was  not  one  of  these, 
they  interrupt  the  recitation  at  the  door  of  the  mosque  and 
bring  in  the  bier  [in  silence].  In  the  case  of  some  persons,  a 
meeting  of  commemoration  is  held  in  the  western  colonnade 
of  the  court,  near  the  Gate  of  the  Post.  They  sit  down,  having 
in  front  of  them  copies  of  the  Qur’an  in  chests  from  which 
[the  Qur’an-readers]  recite,318  and  [the  masters  of  ceremonies] 
raise  their  voices  to  announce  the  names  of  all  the  great  ones 
and  notables  of  the  town  who  come  to  take  part  in  the  funeral 
service,  saying,  ‘In  the  name  of  God,  so-and-so  al-Dln’  such 
as  Kamal,  Jamal,  Shams,  Badr  and  the  rest.  When  they 
finish  the  recitation  of  the  Qur’an,  the  muezzins  rise  and  say, 
‘Think  on  and  consider  well  your  prayer  for  so-and-so,  the 
man  of  piety  and  learning’,  describing  him  with  various 
epithets  indicative  of  good  qualities.  They  then  pray  over 
him  and  take  him  away  to  |  his  place  of  burial.  246 

The  people  of  India  also  observe  an  admirable  ceremony  at 
funerals,  which  even  surpasses  this.  They  assemble  at  the 
sepulchre  of  the  deceased  on  the  morning  of  the  third  day 
after  his  burial.  The  sepulchre  is  garnished  with  fine  cloths, 
and  the  tomb  itself  is  covered  with  rich  hangings  and  sur¬ 
rounded  by  sweet-scented  flowers,  such  as  roses,  eglantine, 
and  jasmine,  for  these  flowers  are  perennial  with  them.  They 
bring  also  lemon  and  citrus  trees,  tying  on  their  fruits  if  they 

316  Loosely  reproduced  from  Ibn  Jubair,  and  less  critical  in  tone. 

317  For  the  funeral  ceremonies  in  the  mosque,  see  E.  W.  Lane,  Modern 
Egyptians ,  chap.  xxvm. 

318  A  chest  ( rab'a )  is  a  box  containing  a  copy  of  the  Qur’an  divided  into 
thirty  sections  (called  juz’ ,  translated  below  as  ‘thirtieth’),  each  reader 
taking  one  section,  for  the  purpose  of  ‘sealing’  or  making  a  recitation  of  the 
whole  of  the  sacred  text. 


153 


SYRIA 


have  none,  and  a  marquee  is  put  up  to  shade  the  party.  The 
qadls,  amirs  and  other  persons  of  like  rank  come  and  take 
their  seats.  Facing  them  are  the  Qur’an-readers,  each  one  of 
whom,  when  the  Holy  Qur’an-chests  are  brought,  takes  a 
thirtieth.  At  the  end  of  the  recitation,  agreeably  intoned  by 
the  readers,  the  qadl  makes  an  invocation.  He  stands  upright, 
and  delivers  an  oration  prepared  for  the  occasion,  referring  in 
it  first  to  the  deceased,  whom  he  mourns  in  [eulogizing] 

247  verses  |  of  poetry,  then  to  his  relatives,  consoling  them  for  his 
death,  and  lastly  to  the  Sultan,  in  a  prayer  for  him.  When  the 
Sultan's  name  is  mentioned  the  audience  rise  and  bow  their 
heads  towards  the  quarter  in  which  the  Sultan  then  is.  The 
qadl  then  resumes  his  seat,  and  rose-water  is  brought  in  and 
sprinkled  on  those  present,  beginning  with  the  qadl,  then  the 
person  next  to  him,  and  so  on  until  everyone  has  been  in¬ 
cluded.  After  this  candied  sugar,  that  is  to  say  jalap,  is 
brought  in,  dissolved  in  water,  and  they  serve  it  to  all, 
beginning  with  the  qadl,  and  the  person  next  to  him  [and  so 
on].  Finally  the  betel  is  brought.  They  make  much  of  this, 
and  offer  it  to  their  guests  as  a  mark  of  respect.  When  the 
Sultan  gives  anyone  some  betel,  it  is  a  greater  honour  than  a 
gift  of  gold  or  official  robes,  and  when  a  man  dies  his  family 

248  eat  no  betel  until  the  day  of  this  ceremony.  |  The  qadl,  or 
whoever  replaces  him,  takes  some  leaves  of  it  and  gives  them 
to  the  heir  of  the  deceased,  who  eats  them,  and  the  party 
thereupon  disperses.  A  description  of  the  betel  will  be  given 
later,  if  God  Most  High  will. 

What  lectures  I  attended  at  Damascus,  and  those  of  its 

scholars  who  gave  me  licence  to  teach ,319  In  the  Umayyad 

mosque  (God  keep  it  ever  filled  with  His  praise)  I  heard  the 

whole  of  the  Sahih  of  the  imam  Abu  ‘Abdallah  Muhammad  b. 

•  •  •  • 

Isma‘Il  al-Bukharl  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  explained  by 

the  aged  shaikh,  the  goal  of  travel  from  all  quarters,  the 

conjoiner  of  the  younger  with  the  elder  generations,  Shihab 

al-Dln  Ahmad  b.  Abu  Talib  b.  Abu’l-Nu'm  b.  Hasan  b.  ‘All 
•  •  • 

319  Ibn  Battuta  concludes  his  account  of  Damascus  with  a  statement  of 
the  diplomas  or  ‘licences’  given  to  him  by  noted  scholars,  and  quotes  in  full 
the  diploma  in  which  he  takes  particular  pride,  as  conferring  on  him  the 
authority  of  the  great  scholars  of  Damascus  and  of  once  glorious  Baghdad 
to  teach  the  venerated  Sahih,  or  Book  of  Sound  Traditions  of  the  Prophet, 
of  al-Bukharl  (d.  870). 


154 


A  DIPLOMA 


b.  Bay  an  al-Din  Muqri’  al-Salihi  known  as  Ibn  al-Shihna 

al-Hajjar;320  [it  was  completed]  in  fourteen  sittings,  the  first 

of  them  on  Tuesday  the  15th  of  Ramadan  the  Exalted,321  in 

the  year  |  seven  hundred  and  twenty-six,  and  the  last  on  249 

Monday  the  28th  of  the  same,  the  text  being  read  by  the 

imam  and  hafiz,  the  historian  of  Damascus, ‘  Alam  al-Din  Abu 

Muhammad  al-Qasim  b.  Muhammad  al-Birzali,  of  Seville  by 

origin  and  of  Damascus  by  residence,322  in  the  presence  of  a 

large  audience,  whose  names  were  noted  by  Muhammad  b. 

Tughril  b.  'Abdallah  b.  al-Ghazzal  al-Sairafi;  the  shaikh 

Abu’l-‘ Abbas  al-Hajjar  having  heard  the  exposition  of  the 

entire  book323  from  the  shaikh  and  imam  Siraj  al-Din  Abu 

‘Abdallah  al-Husain  b.  Abu  Bakr  al-Mubarak  b.  Muhammad 

b.  Yahya  b.  ‘All  b.  [al-]  Muslim  b.  ‘Imran  |  al-Rabfi  al-250 

Baghdadi  al-Zabidi  the  Hanbalite,  in  the  latter  part  of 

Shawwal  and  the  first  part  of  Dhu’l-Qa‘da  of  the  year  six 

hundred  and  thirty324  in  the  Muzaffari  congregational  mosque 

at  the  foot  of  Mount  Qasiyun  outside  Damascus,  and  having 

received  also  a  licence  to  teach  the  whole  book  from  the  two 

shaikhs  Abu’l-Hasan  Muhammad  b.  Ahmad  b.  ‘Omar  b. 

•  •  • 

al-Husain  b.  al-Khalaf  al-Qati‘i,  the  historian,  and  ‘All  b. 
Abu  Bakr  b.  ‘Abdallah  b.  Ruba  al-Qalanisi,  the  druggist,  both 
of  Baghdad,  and  [for  the  sections]  from  the  ‘Chapter  of  the 
Jealousy  and  Passion  of  Women’  to  the  end  of  the  book  from 
AbuT-Munajja  ‘Abdallah  b.  ‘Omar  b.  ‘Ali  b.  Zaid  b.  al-Latti 
al-Khuza‘i  of  Baghdad;  all  these  four  having  heard  its  exposi¬ 
tion  from  the  shaikh  Sadid  al-Din  Abu’l-Waqt  ‘Abd  al-Awwal 
b.  ‘Isa  b.  Shu'aib  b.  Ibrahim  al-Sijzi  of  Herat,  the  Sufi,  at 
Baghdad  in  the  year  five  hundred  and  fifty-three,  who  said: 

320  The  life  and  genealogy  of  this  scholar  (c.  1227-1330)  is  given,  with  some 
small  variations,  in  Durar,  I,  142-3.  He  served  as  a  catapultier  ( hajjar )  in 
the  citadel  of  Damascus  under  the  Ayyubid  sultan  al -Malik  al-Salih  (1240- 
49),  hence  his  appellative  (altered  in  the  printed  text  to  al-Hijazi). 

321  This  date  is  irreconcilable  with  the  astronomical  calendar  (by  which 
Ramadan  15  was  a  Friday  in  726/1326),  or  with  Ibn  Battuta's  own  date 
above  (see  p.  118,  n.  182  above).  Ramadan  15  could  have  been  a  Tuesday 
(4  August)  in  727/1327  or,  with  a  shift  of  one  day  from  the  astronomical 
calendar,  in  730/1320  (3  July). 

322  Al-Birzali  (1267-1338)  was  one  of  the  most  famous  scholars  and  tradi- 
tionists  of  his  time;  see  E.I.,  s.v. 

323  Here  follows  the  chain  of  authorities  by  oral  transmission  back  to  the 
author  of  the  work,  without  which  the  diploma  lacked  authentic  value. 

324  I.e.  August  1233,  when  he  was  only  six  years  old,  or  a  little  older. 

155 


SYRIA 


251  ‘[The  tradition]  was  taught  to  me  by  |  the  imam  Jamal 

al-Islam  Abu’l-Hasan  ‘Abd  al-Rahman  b.  Muhammad  b. 

•  •  • 

al-Muzaffar  b.  Muhammad  b.  Da/ud  b.  Ahmad  b.  Ma‘ad  b. 

•  •  • 

Sahl  b.  al-Hakam  al-Da’udl,  the  text  being  read  before  him 
in  my  hearing  at  Bushanj  in  the  year  four  hundred  and  sixty- 
five,  he  [in  turn]  saying:  It  was  taught  to  me  by  Abu  Muham¬ 
mad  ‘Abdallah  b.  Ahmad  b.  Hawlya  b.  Yusuf  b.  Aiman  al- 
SarakhsI,  the  text  being  read  before  him  in  my  hearing  in 
Safar  of  the  year  three  hundred  and  eighty-one,  he  saying:  It 
was  taught  to  me  by  [Abu]  ‘Abdallah  Muhammad  b.  Yusuf  b. 
Mitr  (Matar)  b.  Salih  b.  Bishr  b.  Ibrahim  al-Farabri,  the  text 
being  read  before  him  in  my  hearing  at  Farabr  in  the  year 
three  hundred  and  sixteen,  he  saying:  It  was  taught  to  me 
by  the  imam  Abu  ‘Abdallah  Muhammad  b.  Isma/il  al- 
Bukhari  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  at  Farabr  in  the  year  two 
hundred  and  forty-eight,  and  afterwards  a  second  time  in  the 
year  fifty- three/ 

Amongst  the  scholars  of  Damascus  who  gave  me  a  general 

252  licence  were  the  above-mentioned  shaikh  Abu’l-  |  ‘Abbas 
al-Hajjar,  on  my  request  for325  it,  when  he  gave  it  to  me 
orally;  the  shaikh  and  imam  Shihab  al-Din  Ahmad  b. 
‘Abdallah  b.  Ahmad  b.  Muhammad  al-MaqdisI,326  who  was 
born  in  Rabl‘  I  of  the  year  six  hundred  and  fifty-three  [April 
1255];  the  pious  shaikh  and  imam  ‘Abd  al-Rahman  b. 
Muhammad  b.  Ahmad  b.  ‘Abd  al-Rahman  al-Najdl;327  the 
imam  of  imams  Jamal  al-Din  Abu’l-Mahasin  Yusuf  b.  al- 
Zakl  ‘Abd  al-Rahman  b.  Yusuf  al-MizzT  al-Kalbl,328  most 
retentive  of  hafiz's;  the  shaikh  and  imam  ‘Ala  al-Din  ‘All  b. 
Yusuf  b.  Muhammad  b.  ‘Abdallah  al-Shafi‘1;329  the  shaikh 
and  imam  the  Sharif  Muhyi’l-Dln  Yahya  b.  Muhammad  b. 
‘All  al-‘AlawI;330  the  shaikh  and  imam,  the  traditionist  Majd 

325  This  is  the  reading  of  three  MSS,  against  the  reading  adopted  in  the 
printed  text  (‘on  his  own  initiative’) . 

326  Traditionist  and  shaikh  of  the  Diya’Iya  college,  d.  1330  ( Durar ,  I,  180). 

327  Traditionist,  died  in  Jerusalem  1337/8  {Durar,  II,  340).  The  text  prints 
his  ethnic  as  al-Bajadl. 

328  See  p.  148,  n.  303  (the  reading  al-Muzani  in  the  text  is  an  obvious 
error).  His  wife  ‘A’isha  bint  Ibrahim  was  also  a  noted  teacher  {Durar,  II, 
235). 

329  Ibn  al-Muhtar  (1251-1335),  imam  at  the  Mosque  of  the  Head  (see 
above,  p.  130)  and  notary  ‘beneath  the  Clock’  {Durar,  IV,  143). 

330  This  Muhyi’l-Dln,  known  as  Ibn  Tabataba,  died  in  721/1321,  according 

156 


DAMASCENE  SCHOLARS 

al-Dln  al-Qasim  b.  ‘Abdallah  b.  Abu  ‘Abdallah  b.  al-  |  Mu‘alla  253 
al-Dimashql,331  born  in  the  year  six  hundred  and  fifty-four; 
the  learned  shaikh  and  imam  Shihab  al-Dln  Ahmad  b. 
Ibrahim  b.  Fallah  b.  Muhammad  al-Iskandari;332  the  shaikh 
and  imam,  the  friend  of  God  Most  High,  Shams  al-Dln  b. 
‘Abdallah  b.  Tammam;333  the  brother  shaikhs  Shams  al-Din 
Muhammad  and  Kamal  al-Din  ‘Abdallah,  sons  of  Ibrahim  b. 
‘Abdallah  b.  Abu  ‘Omar  al-Maqdisi;334  the  devout  shaikh 
Shams  al-Din  Muhammad  b.  Abu’l-Zahra/  b.  Salim  al- 
Hakkari;335  the  pious  woman  shaikh,  Umm  Muhammad 
‘A’isha,  daughter  of  Muhammad  b.  Muslim  b.  Salama  al- 
Harrani;336  and  the  pious  woman  shaikh,  the  goal  of  the 
world’s  travel,  Zainab,  daughter  of  Kamal  al-Din  Ahmad  b. 
‘Abd  al-Rahim  b.  ‘Abd  al-Wahid  b.  Ahmad  al-Maqdisi.337  All 
of  these  gave  me  |  a  general  licence  [to  teach]  in  the  year  254 
[seven  hundred  and]  twenty-six  at  Damascus.338 


to  Durar,  IV,  428;  the  person  referred  to  by  Ibn  Battuta  is  probably  the 
traditionist  and  jurist  Badr  al-Din  al-'Adawi,  known  as  Ibn  al-Sakakiri 
(1256-1331). 

331  Not  identified. 

332  Diya’  al-Din  (1264-1329),  according  to  Durar,  I,  195. 

333  Probably  the  son  of  ‘Abdallah  b.  Ahmad  b.  Tammam  (1237-1318) 
Durar,  II,  241). 

334  Xwo  of  the  ‘Six  Brothers’  who  gained  some  notoriety  at  this  time, 
descendants  of  the  Abu  ‘Omar  al-Maqdisi  referred  to  above,  p.  144,  n.  290. 
Muhammad  (1264-1345)  is  called  by  Ibn  Hajar  ‘Izz  al-Din  {Durar,  III,  287) 
and  ‘Abdallah  (1265-1331)  Sharaf  al-Din  {Durar,  II,  240). 

335  1256-1336;  Durar  (III,  442)  gives  his  father’s  name  as  Abu’l-Zahr  and 
his  ethnic  as  al-Ghasuli. 

336  1249-1336;  one  of  sixteen  ‘A’ishas  who  were  scholars  in  Tradition  in 
this  century.  According  to  Durar  (II,  238),  she  gained  a  living  by  sewing. 

337  1248-1339;  one  of  twenty- three  Zainabs  mentioned  in  Durar.  She 
suffered  from  ophthalmia  from  childhood  and  never  married,  but  travelled 
extensively  in  the  Near  East  and  was  much  sought  after  as  a  teacher  of 
Tradition  {Durar,  II,  117-18). 

338  With  all  his  industry  it  is  a  little  difficult  to  see  how  Ibn  Battuta 
obtained  all  these  diplomas  in  the  space  of  twenty-two  days.  He  had  time 
also  to  marry  a  wife  and  to  beget  a  son,  as  he  relates  in  connexion  with  his 
return  to  Damascus  in  1348  {Selections,  p.  304). 


157 


CHAPTER  III 


From  Damascus  to  Mecca 

When  the  new  moon  of  Shawwal  appeared  in  the 
above-mentioned  year  [i  September  1326],  the 
Hijaz  caravan  went  out  to  the  outskirts  of  Damas¬ 
cus  and  encamped  at  the  village  called  al-Kiswa,1  and  I  set 
out  on  the  move  with  them.2  The  commander  of  the  caravan 
was  Saif  al-Dln  al-Juban,  one  of  the  principal  amirs,3  and  its 
qadl  was  Sharaf  al-Dln  al-Adhru‘14  [from  AdhruH  in  Hawran. 
In  the  same  year  the  professor  of  the  Malikites,  Sadr  al-Din 
al-Ghomarl,5  also  went  on  pilgrimage.  My  journey  was  made 
with  a  tribe  of  bedouin  Arabs  called  al-'Ajarima,6  whose  amir 
was  Muhammad  b.  Rah',  a  man  occupying  a  high  position 
amongst  the  amirs.  We  marched  from  al-Kiswa  to  a  village 
called  al-Sanamain,7  a  big  place,  and  marched  on  from  there 
to  the  township  of  Zur'a,8  a  small  place  in  the  district  of 
Hawran.  After  a  halt  in  its  vicinity  we  travelled  on  to  the 
town  of  Bosra;  it  [too]  is  a  small  place.9  It  is  the  usual  practice 

1  Kiswe,  on  the  Nahr  al-A‘waj  (Pharpar),  lies  ten  miles  south  of  Damascus, 
from  which  it  is  separated  by  a  low  ridge;  the  site  is  believed  to  be  that  of  the 
pre-Islamic  residence  of  the  Arab  chiefs  of  Ghassan. 

2  Leaving  his  newly  married  wife  behind. 

3  Juban  al-Mansuri,  died  at  Damascus  1327/8  ( Durar ,  I,  542;  Nujum,  IX, 
274). 

4  Probably  Ahmad  b.  Muhammad  b.  Ibrahim,  died  in  1341  {Durar,  I, 
240). 

5  Probably  Yusuf  b.  Ahmad,  known  as  Ibn  Ghannum,  1287-1333  {Durar, 
IV,  447). 

6  Ajram  was  a  branch  of  the  southern  Arab  tribe  of  Khath'am. 

7  Twenty  miles  south  of  Kiswe,  on  the  former  Roman  highway  running 
south  from  Damascus. 

8  The  modern  Ezra',  on  the  south-western  edge  of  the  volcanic  tract  called 
al-Leja,  fifteen  miles  south  of  al-Sanamain. 

9  Bosra  (Eski  Sham),  twenty-seven  miles  south  of  Ezra',  was  a  Roman 
city,  capital  of  Hawran,  and  site  of  an  early  Christian  cathedral.  According 
to  Arab  tradition,  it  was  a  terminus  of  the  caravans  which  carried  spices 
and  other  Yemenite  goods  from  Mecca  to  Syria,  and  is  consequently  asso¬ 
ciated  with  the  early  life  of  Muhammad  (see  p.  205,  n.  75).  He  is  said  to  have 


/ 


V 


f 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  KARAK 


of  the  caravan  to  stop  there  for  four  nights,  so  that  any  who 
have  remained  behind  at  Damascus  to  finish  off  their  business 
may  make  up  on  them.10  It  was  at  Bosra  that  |  the  Apostle  of  255 
God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  came  before  his  mission, 
while  engaged  in  trading  on  Khadlja’s  account,  and  in  the 
town  [there  is  shown]  the  place  where  his  she-camel  couched, 
over  which  a  great  mosque  has  been  erected.  The  inhabitants 
of  Hawran  flock  to  this  town  [with  their  produce]  and  the 
pilgrims  supply  themselves  here  with  provisions  for  the 
journey.  They  travel  next  to  the  Pool  of  Zlza,* 11  where  they 
stop  for  a  day,  then  go  on  to  al-Lajjun,12  where  there  is  run¬ 
ning  water,  and  thence  to  the  castle  of  al-Karak. 

Al-Karak  is  one  of  the  most  marvellous,  inaccessible,  and 
celebrated  of  fortresses,  and  it  is  called  The  Castle  of  the 
Raven’.13  The  river-bed  encircles  it  on  all  sides,  and  it  has  but 
one  gate,  the  entrance  to  which  is  hewn  in  the  living  rock,  as 
also  is  the  entrance  to  its  vestibule.  This  castle  is  used  by  the 
kings  as  a  stronghold  and  place  of  refuge  in  times  of  adversity, 
and  it  was  to  it  that  al-Malik  al-Nasir  fled.  For  he  was  in¬ 
vested  with  the  kingship  while  yet  a  child,  and  the  control 
was  seized  by  his  mamluk  Salar,  acting  as  his  viceroy.  |  Al-  256 
Malik  al-Nasir  gave  out  that  he  wished  to  make  the  Pil¬ 
grimage,  the  amirs  consented  to  his  wish,  and  he  set  off  to 
perform  the  Pilgrimage,  but  on  reaching  the  Pass  of  ‘Aila14  he 
escaped  to  the  castle  and  remained  there  for  some  years,  until 
eventually  the  amirs  of  Syria  sought  him  out  and  the  mam- 
luks  assembled  around  him.15  In  the  meantime  the  royal 

met  here  the  monk  Bahira,  who  foretold  his  future  prophetic  mission  (see 
article  ‘Bahira’  in  E.I. ). 

10  The  pilgrim  caravans  were  at  all  times  occasions  for  trade,  especially  as 
they  were  often  exempted  from  the  ordinary  transit  and  customs  duties. 

11  The  modern  Jiza,  a  station  on  the  Hejaz  railway,  twenty  miles  south  of 
‘Amm3,n. 

12  Twelve  miles  north-west  of  al-Karak. 

13  Al-Karak,  ‘Krak  des  Moabites’,  was  a  Crusaders’  castle,  built  in  1145, 
captured  by  al-‘Adil  for  Saladin  in  1188,  subsequently  an  Ayyubid  princi¬ 
pality,  and  under  the  Mamluk  sultans  a  separate  province  ( niyaba )  and  state 
prison,  under  the  command  of  a  high  officer. 

14  ‘Aqabat  Aila,  from  which  the  port  of  Aila  took  its  modern  name  of 
‘Aqaba,  is  properly  the  pass  through  the  ridge  north  of  the  town  (Jabal 
Umm  Nusaila),  on  the  road  from  ‘Aqaba  to  Ma'an. 

15  Al-Nasir’s  second  abdication  took  place  in  January  1309,  he  being  then 
twenty-four  years  of  age.  His  third  and  final  assumption  of  the  sultanate, 
engineered  by  the  governor  of  Aleppo,  Qarasunqur  (see  above,  p.  106,  n. 

M  159  T.O.I.B. 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA 


authority  had  been  exercised  by  Baibars  the  ‘Shashnaklr’, 
who  was  Amir  of  the  Table16  and  called  himself  al-Malik  al- 
Muzaffar  (it  was  he  who  built  the  Baibarslya  Convent,17  near 
the  convent  of  Sa'Id  al-Su'ada/  which  was  built  by  Saladin  b. 
Ayyub).  When  al-Malik  al-Nasir  led  the  troops  against  him, 
Baibars  fled  to  the  desert,  but  was  pursued  by  the  troops, 
seized,  and  brought  to  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  who  ordered  him  to 
be  executed  and  executed  he  was.  Salar  also  was  seized  and 
confined  in  a  dungeon  until  he  died  of  starvation,  and  it  is 
said  that  he  ate  carrion  in  his  hunger — God  preserve  us  from 
the  like.18 

257  The  caravan  stopped  |  outside  al-Karak  for  four  days,  at  a 
place  called  al-Thanlya,19  and  made  preparations  for  entering 
the  wilderness.  Thence  we  travelled  to  Ma'an,  which  is  the 
last  town  in  Syria,20  and  descended  through  the  Pass  of 
al-Sawan  into  the  desert,  of  which  the  saying  goes:  ‘He  who 
enters  it  is  lost,  and  he  who  leaves  it  is  born/  After  a  march  of 
two  days  we  halted  at  Dhat  Hajj,  a  place  of  subterranean 
water-beds  with  no  habitations,21  then  on  to  Wadi  Baldah22 
(but  there  is  no  water  in  it),  and  then  to  Tabuk.23  This  is  the 

1 51),  began  with  his  entry  into  Damascus  in  January  1310,  to  the  enthusias¬ 
tic  acclaim  of  the  troops  and  citizens. 

16  Shashnaklr,  Jashankir,  etc.  are  Arabic  deformations  of  the  Persian 
chashta-niglr ,  i.e.  ‘taster’  of  the  food  served  to  the  sultan.  Rukn  al-Dln 
Baibars  was  a  Circassian  mamltik  of  Sultan  Qala’iln.  He  was  executed  on  16 
April  1310,  and  buried  in  the  convent  that  he  had  founded.  Seep.  43,  n.  129. 

17  The  convent,  built  on  the  site  of  the  palace  of  the  viziers  of  the  Fatimid 
caliphs,  a  little  way  south  of  the  Bab  al-Nasr,  is  described  in  Max  van 
Berchem,  Materiaux  pour  un  Corpus  Inscriptionum  Arabicarum,  I,  1  (Paris 
1894),  161-6. 

18  Sallar,  who  had  been  forced  against  his  will  to  assume  the  vice-sultanate 
under  Baibars,  died  at  the  end  of  1310.  The  reading  of  the  word  after  ‘ate’ 
is  uncertain;  the  two  most  likely  readings  are  jlfa  (‘carrion’)  and  khuffaihi 
(‘his  shoes’). 

19  Probably  identical  with  Khirbet  Tathniya;  see  ZDPV,  II  (1879),  134. 

20  Ma'an  was  at  this  time  practically  deserted,  though  still  a  sub-district 
of  the  province  of  al-Karak,  as  the  whole  region  was  occupied  by  bedouins 
of  the  Judham  tribe,  including  the  Banu  Sakhr  around  al-Karak  itself. 
‘Aqabat  al-Sawan  (or  al-Sawwan,  ‘of  the  Flints’)  is  now  called  ‘Aqabat 
al-Hijazfya,  a  station  on  the  Hejaz  railway,  thirty-five  miles  south  of  Ma'an. 

21  Dhat  Hajj,  a  station  at  290  05'  N.,  36°  08'  E. 

22  Baldah  is  identified  by  A.  Musil  ( Northern  Hegaz,  329)  with  the  valley 
of  al-Bazwa,  about  fifty  kilometres  south  of  Dhat  Hajj  and  near  the  station 
of  al-Hazm  at  28°  41'  N.,  36°  14'  E. 

23  Tabuk,  a  station  on  the  Hejaz  railway,  was  the  objective  of  an  expedi¬ 
tion  led  by  Muhammad  in  63 1 . 

l6o 


FROM  KARAK  TO  TABUK 

place  which  was  raided  by  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and 
give  him  peace).  It  has  a  spring  which  used  to  yield  a  scanty 
supply  of  water,  but  when  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and 
give  him  peace)  went  down  to  it  and  used  it  for  his  ablutions 
it  gave  an  abundant  flow  of  running  water  and  continues  to 
do  so  to  this  day,  through  the  blessed  power  of  the  Apostle  of 
God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace).  It  is  the  custom  of  the 
Syrian  pilgrims,  on  reaching  the  camping  ground  of  Tabuk,  to 
take  their  weapons  and  unsheath  |  their  swords,  charge  upon  258 
the  camp  and  strike  the  palms  with  their  swords,  saying  Thus 
did  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  enter 
it’. 

The  huge  caravan  encamps  near  the  spring  referred  to,  and 
every  one  of  them  slakes  his  thirst  from  it.  They  remain  here 
for  four  days  to  rest  themselves  and  to  water  the  camels  and 
lay  in  supplies  of  water  for  the  fearsome  wilderness  between 
Tabuk  and  al-'Ula.  It  is  the  practice  of  the  water-carriers  to 
take  up  their  positions  at  the  sides  of  this  spring,  and  they 
have  tanks  made  of  buffalo  hides,  like  great  reservoirs,  from 
which  they  water  the  camels  and  fill  the  large  waterbags  and 
ordinary  waterskins.24  Each  amir  or  person  of  rank  has  a 
[private]  tank  from  which  his  camels  and  those  of  his  retinue 
are  watered,  and  their  waterbags  filled;  the  rest  of  the  people 
arrange  with  the  watercarriers  to  water  the  camel  and  fill  the 
waterskin  of  each  person  for  a  fixed  sum  of  money. 

The  caravan  then  sets  out  from  Tabuk  and  pushes  on 
speedily  |  night  and  day,  for  fear  of  this  wilderness.  Halfway  259 
through  is  the  valley  al-Ukhaidir,  which  might  well  be  the 
valley  of  Hell  (God  preserve  us  from  it).25  One  year  the  pil¬ 
grims  suffered  severe  distress  in  this  place,  by  reason  of  the 
samoom-wind26  which  blows  [there],  their  water  supplies 
dried  up,  and  the  price  of  a  drink  of  water  rose  to  a  thousand 
dinars,  but  both  seller  and  buyer  perished.  The  story  of  this 
is  inscribed  on  one  of  the  rocks  in  the  valley.  [Going  on]  from 

24  The  large  water-bag  ( rawiya )  was  made  of  several  skins  sewed  together 
and  carried  on  camels.  The  ordinary  waterskin  ( qirba )  is  a  goat-skin. 

25  ‘The  halting-place  of  al-Ukhaydir  (al-Akhzar)  lies  in  a  deep  valley  en¬ 
closed  by  high  slopes,  in  places  covered  with  lava.  Ibn  Battuta  rightly  com¬ 
pares  this  to  a  valley  of  hell’  (Musil,  329).  The  name,  ‘little  green  place’, 
is  obviously  ironical.  Al-Akhzar  is  situated  at  28°  08'  N.,  370  08'  E. 

26  The  simoom  or  ‘poison’  wind;  see  Yule’s  Marco  Polo,  I,  120,  n.  5. 

l6l 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA 


there,  the  caravan  halts  at  the  Pool  of  al-Mu‘a??;am,  a  vast 
[basin],  called  after  al-Malik  al-Mu‘azzam  of  the  house  of 
Ayyub,27  in  which  the  rain-water  collects  in  certain  years, 
but  which  is  generally  dry  in  others. 

On  the  fifth  day  after  leaving  Tabuk,  they  reach  the  well 
of  al-Hijr — the  Hijr  of  Thamud28 — which  has  an  abundance 
of  water,  but  not  one  of  the  pilgrims  draws  of  it,  however 
violent  their  thirst,  following  the  example  set  by  the  Apostle 
of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace),  when  he  passed  it  by 
260  on  |  the  expedition  to  Tabuk.  For  he  drove  on  his  riding  camel, 
giving  orders  that  none  should  water  from  it,  and  those  who 
had  used  it  to  make  dough  fed  their  camels  with  it.  At  this 
place  are  the  dwellings  of  Thamud,  in  some  hills  of  red  rock.29 
They  are  hewn  out  and  have  carved  thresholds,  such  that 
anyone  seeing  them  would  take  them  to  be  of  recent  con¬ 
struction.  Their  bones  lie  crumbling  inside  these  houses — 
Verily,  in  that  is  a  warning  example’.30  The  place  of  kneeling 
of  the  she-camel  of  Salih  (on  him  be  peace)  is  between  two 
hills  there,  and  in  the  space  between  them  are  the  traces  of 
a  mosque,  in  which  the  pilgrims  perform  a  prayer. 

From  al-Hijr  to  al-'Ula  is  half  a  day’s  journey  or  less.  Al- 
‘Ula  is  a  large  and  pleasant  village31  with  palm  gardens  and 

27  Qal'at  al-Mu‘adhdham,  on  the  Hejaz  railway,  thirty-six  miles  south-east 
of  al-Akhzar,  named  either  after  Saladin’s  brother  Turan-Shah,  who  held 
Yemen  and  other  parts  of  Arabia  until  1181,  or  more  probably  after  Sala¬ 
din’s  nephew  al-Mu‘a?zam  ‘Isa,  sultan  of  Damascus  1218-27. 

28  Now  called  Mada’in  Salih  (‘the  cities  of  Salih’,  see  the  following  note), 
26®  49'  N.,  38°  oo'  E. 

29  The  story  of  the  impious  tribe  of  Thamud  is  frequently  related  in  the 
Qur’an  and  also  referred  to  in  early  Arabian  poetry.  As  told  in  the  Qur’an 
(e.g.  Sura  xi,  64-71),  the  prophet  Salih,  one  of  their  own  number,  preached 
the  doctrine  of  Muslim  monotheism  to  Thamud,  and  miraculously  produced 
a  live  she-camel  from  the  rock  as  an  attestation  of  his  mission.  His  unbeliev¬ 
ing  fellow-citizens  slaughtered  the  camel  and  were  struck  dead  in  their 
houses.  The  north-Arabian  tribe  of  Thamud  is  mentioned  in  Assyrian  and 
Greek  sources,  and  Pliny  mentions  also  al-Hijr  (‘Hegra’)  as  one  of  their 
settlements.  Al-Hijr  itself,  as  its  name  (south- Arabian  hijr  —  town)  implies, 
was  an  ancient  station  on  the  great  trade  route  between  Yemen  and  the 
the  marts  of  Syria.  The  ‘houses’  referred  to  in  the  text  are  the  rock-hewn 
tombs  of  the  ancient  Thamudites;  it  was  probably  the  existence  of  these 
tombs  which  gave  rise  to  the  parable  of  the  impious  Thamud,  to  which  was 
attached  the  memory  of  some  earlier  monotheistic  preaching  in  Arabia  con¬ 
nected  with  the  name  of  ‘Salih’,  the  ‘righteous  one’.  (See  also  E.  H.  Palmer’s 
translation  of  the  Qur’an,  note  on  Sura  vii,  77.) 

30  Quotation  from  the  Qur’an,  Sura  iii,  11,  etc. 

31  Al-‘Ela,  eighteen  miles  south  of  Mada’in  Salih. 

162 


FROM  TABUK  TO  AL-MADI N  A 

watersprings  at  which  the  pilgrims  halt  for  the  space  of  four 
nights.  They  provision  themselves  and  wash  their  clothes, 
and  also  deposit  here  any  surplus  of  provisions  they  may 
have,  taking  on  with  them  only  the  amount  |  of  their  strict  261 
necessities.  The  inhabitants  of  this  village  are  trustworthy 
persons.  This  is  the  limit  to  which  the  Christian  merchants  of 
Syria  may  come,  and  beyond  which  they  may  not  pass,  and 
they  trade  in  provisions  and  other  goods  with  the  pilgrims 
here. 

The  caravan  then  sets  out  from  al-‘Ula  and  encamps  on  the 
day  following  the  resumption  of  the  journey  in  the  valley 
known  as  al-Ttas  (?).32  It  is  a  place  of  violent  heat,  in  which 
the  fatal  samoom-wind  blows.  It  blew  up  one  year  on  the 
caravan,  and  none  but  a  few  of  the  pilgrims  escaped  with  their 
lives;  that  year  is  known  as  the  year  of  the  amir  al-Jaliql.33 
After  this  they  encamp  at  Hadlya,  which  is  a  place  of  sub¬ 
terranean  waterbeds  in  a  valley;34  they  dig  pits  in  it  and  the 
water  comes  up,  but  brackish.  On  the  third  day  they  alight 
outside  the  sanctified  city  [of  al-Madlna],  the  holy  and 
illustrious. 

T aiba,  the  city  of  the  Apostle  of  God 35  ( God  bless  and  give  him 
peace,  exalt  and  ennoble  him!).  On  the  evening  of  the  same  day, 
after  sunset,  we  entered  the  holy  sanctuary  and  reached  at 
length  the  illustrious  mosque.  |  We  halted  at  the  Gate  of  262 
Peace36  to  pay  our  respects,  and  prayed  at  the  noble 

32  This  name  is  variously  written,  and  has  not  been  identified. 

33  Qutlugh  or  Qutlughtimur  al-Nasiri,  son-in-law  of  the  amir  al-Jaliq, 
governor  of  Gaza,  commanded  the  Syrian  pilgrim-caravan  in  708/1309 
(Durar,  I,  74),  but  there  appears  to  be  no  other  record  of  this  disaster  to  the 
caravan. 

34  Station  on  the  Hejaz  railway  at  250  32'  N.,  38°  47'  E. 

35  The  name  Taiba,  connected  with  the  Arabic  root  meaning  ‘sweet, 
pleasant’,  is  frequently  applied  to  al-Madina  in  medieval  works,  and  ex¬ 
plained  by  an  early  (though  probably  apocryphal)  tradition  according  to 
which  two  Arabs  returning  from  Syria  told  the  Prophet  that  they  had  met 
al-Dajjal  (the  Islamic  Anti-Christ),  who  had  said  ‘I  shall  trample  the  whole 
earth  save  Mecca  and  Taiba’,  whereupon  Muhammad,  turning  to  his  fol¬ 
lowers,  said  ‘Rejoice,  ye  Muslims;  this  is  Taiba,  which  Anti-Christ  shall  not 
enter’  ( Musnad  of  Ibn  Hanbal,  VI,  374,  413).  The  word  al-Madina  is  itself 
the  Aramaic  term  for  ‘city’,  probably  applied  already  by  the  Jewish  residents 
in  the  region  before  Islam  to  its  chief  settlement,  then  known  as  Yathrib, 
but  later  explained  as  a  shortened  form  of  Madinat  al-Nabl,  ‘the  City  of  the 
Prophet’. 

36  Pilgrims  to  the  mosque  always  enter  from  the  Gate  of  Peace  ( Bab 

163 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA 


Garden37  between  the  tomb  [of  the  Apostle]  and  the  noble  pul¬ 
pit.  We  kissed  the  fragment  that  remains  of  the  palm-trunk 
that  whimpered  for  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace),  which  is  now  attached  to  a  pillar  standing  between 
the  tomb  and  the  mimbar,  on  the  right  as  one  faces  the  qibla.38 
We  paid  the  meed  of  salutation  to  the  lord  of  men,  first,  and 
last,  the  intercessor  for  sinners  and  transgressors,  the  apostle- 
prophet  of  the  tribe  of  Hashim  from  the  Vale  of  Mecca, 
Muhammad  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace,  exalt  and  en¬ 
noble  him),  and  the  meed  of  salutation  to  his  two  com¬ 
panions  who  share  his  tomb,39  Abu  Bakr  al-Siddiq  and  Abu 
Hafs  'Umar  al-Faruq40  (God  be  pleased  with  them).  We  then 
retired  to  our  camp,  rejoicing  at  this  most  signal  favour,  with 
hearts  cheered  at  obtaining  this  most  great  bounty,  praising 
God  Most  High  for  our  safe  arrival  at  the  sacred  abodes  of 
263  His  Apostle  and  his  glorious  and  sublime  sanctuaries,41  |  and 
praying  Him  to  grant  that  this  be  not  our  last  association 
with  them  and  that  we  might  be  of  those  whose  visitation  is 
accepted  and  whose  journey  upon  the  path  of  God  has  been 
ordained. 

The  mosque  and  holy  Garden  of  the  Apostle  of  God*2  (God  bless 
and  give  him  peace).  The  venerated  mosque  is  oblong,  having 

al-Saldm),  a  double-arched  gateway  at  the  southern  end  of  the  west  wall, 
facing  the  tomb  of  the  Prophet.  See  the  plan  of  the  mosque,  Fig.  4. 

37  The  ‘small  garden’  ( al-rawda  al-saghira) ,  so-called  from  a  tradition  of  the 
Prophet  ‘Between  my  tomb  and  my  pulpit  is  a  garden  of  the  gardens  of 
Paradise’,  is  described  by  Burton  as  ‘a  space  of  about  eighty  feet  in  length, 
tawdrily  decorated  [with  flowered  carpets,  green  tiles,  etc.]  so  as  to  resemble 
a  garden’.  Cf.  Eldon  Rutter,  The  Holy  Cities  of  Arabia  (London  1928),  II,  192. 

38  This  fragment  has  since  disappeared.  The  story  of  the  palm  trunk  is 
related  below,  p.  173. 

39  For  the  ceremonies  and  prayers  performed  on  this  occasion  by  visitors 
see  Burton,  Pilgrimage,  chap,  xvi,  and  Eldon  Rutter,  The  Holy  Cities  of 
Arabia,  II,  191-5. 

40  Abu  Bakr,  the  father  of  ‘A’isha,  the  favourite  wife  of  Muhammad,  was 
the  first  Successor  or  Khalifa  of  Muhammad  (632-4),  and  was  succeeded  by 
‘Omar  b.  al-Khattab  (‘Omar  I)  (634-44),  the  father  of  Hafsa,  another  of 
Muhammad’s  wives.  Abu  Bakr  bears  among  Sunni  Muslims  the  epithet  of 
al-Siddiq  (‘the  most  true’)  in  recognition  of  his  devotion  to  the  Prophet,  and 
‘Omar  that  of  al-Faruq  (‘he  who  distinguishes  between  truth  and  falsehood’). 
Both  were  buried  in  the  tomb  chamber  of  the  Prophet,  as  explained  below. 

41  Mashahid,  literally  tombs  or  places  of  visitation  (cf.  p.  126,  n.  212). 

42  This  paragraph  is  taken  entirely  from  the  work  of  Ibn  Jubair,  but  much 
abridged.  In  the  interval  between  the  two  travellers,  the  original  mosque 
had  been  burned  down,  in  1256. 


164 


THE  PROPHET'S  MOSQUE 

round  it  on  all  four  sides  covered  porticos,43  with  an  open 
court  in  the  centre  floored  with  pebbles  and  sand.  Encircling 
the  holy  mosque  is  a  street  paved  with  hewn  stones.  The 
sanctified  Garden44  (the  blessings  and  peace  of  God  be  upon 
its  inmate)  is  near  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the  noble 
mosque.  Its  shape  is  unusual  and  difficult  to  represent.  It  is 
wainscotted45  with  marble,  exquisitely  fashioned  and  of 
surpassing  quality,  [surmounting  which  are  panels]  covered 
with  smearings  of  musk  and  perfume  [that  have  blackened 
and  cracked]  with  age.46  On  its  southern  side  |  is  a  nail  of  264 
silver,  opposite  to  the  noble  person  [of  Muhammad],  and  at 
this  place  the  people  stand  in  salutation,  facing  towards  the 
noble  person  and  with  their  backs  to  the  qibla.  Having  made 
their  salutation,  they  pass  to  the  right,  to  the  person  of  Abu 
Bakr  al-Siddiq  (the  head  of  Abu  Bakr — God  be  pleased  with 
him — being  towards  the  feet  of  the  Apostle  of  God — God 
bless  and  give  him  peace)  and  then  on  to  ‘Omar  b.  al-Khattab 
(the  head  of  ‘Omar  being  by  the  shoulders  of  Abu  Bakr — God 
be  pleased  with  both).  To  the  north  of  the  sanctified  Garden 
— God  increase  it  in  sweetness — is  a  small  depression  cased 
with  marble,  on  the  southern  side  of  which  is  the  figure  of  a 
mihrab.  It  is  said  that  this  was  the  chamber  of  Fatima,  the 
daughter  of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace),  and  it  is  said  also  that  it  is  her  grave,  but  God  is 
All-knowing.47  In  the  centre  of  the  noble  mosque  is  a  door- 
leaf  laid  flat  upon  the  surface  of  the  ground,  which  closes  the 
entrance  to  a  subterranean  passage  with  steps  leading  to 

43  Literally,  ‘encompassed  on  all  four  sides  by  covered  porticoes  (or  aisles) 
round  about  it’.  Ibn  Jubair  enumerates  five  aisles  on  the  southern  side,  the 
same  on  the  northern,  three  on  the  eastern,  and  four  on  the  western. 

44  The  Rawda  proper,  a  railed  enclosure  in  the  south-eastern  corner,  on 
the  site  of  the  Prophet’s  burial-chamber,  now  generally  called  the  Hujra 
or  ‘Chamber’  (in  distinction  from  the  ‘small  Rawda’  (see  p.  164,  n.  37),  which 
is  now  generally  called  ‘the  Rawda’).  It  has  five  unequal  sides,  set  askew  to 
the  walls  of  the  mosque;  the  exact  measurements  are  given  by  Ibn  Jubair. 

In  its  present  form  the  Hujra  is  surrounded  by  a  square  outer  grille. 

45  Reading,  with  one  MS  and  Ibn  J  ubair,  mu’azzara. 

46  The  words  inserted  in  square  brackets  are  from  Ibn  Jubair. 

47  Early  Islamic  tradition  places  Fatima’s  grave  in  the  cemetery  of 
al-Baqi‘  (see  p.  179  below),  but  the  fact  of  her  secret  and  hurried  burial  gave 
room  for  the  belief,  particularly  favoured  by  the  Shi'ites,  that  she  had  been 
buried  in  proximity  to  her  father.  In  modern  times,  the  authenticity  of  the 
tomb  seems  to  be  accepted  without  question. 

165 


i66 


THE  PROPHET’S  MOSQUE 

the  house  of  Abu  Bakr  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  outside  the 
mosque.  This  passage  was  the  way  by  which  his  daughter 
'A’isha,  the  Mother  of  the  Faithful  (God  be  pleased  with  her), 
used  to  go  to  his  house,  and  it  is  beyond  all  doubt  |  that  it  is  265 
the  'passage’  which  is  mentioned  in  the  Tradition  and  which 
the  Apostle  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  commanded  to 
be  preserved  and  all  the  others  to  be  sealed  up.  Opposite  the 
house  of  Abu  Bakr  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  is  the  house  of 
'Omar  and  that  of  his  son  'Abdallah  b.  'Omar  (God  be  pleased 
with  them).48  To  the  east  of  the  noble  mosque  is  the  house  of 
the  Imam  of  al-Madlna,  Abu  'Abdallah  Malik  b.  Anas  (God 
be  pleased  with  him),49  and  close  to  the  Gate  of  Peace  there  is 
a  cistern  of  running  water,  to  which  one  goes  down  by  a  flight 
of  steps;  this  cistern  is  known  as  the  Blue  Spring. 

The  commencement  of  the  building  of  the  noble  mosque.  The 
Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  arrived  at  the 
Holy  City  [al-Madlna],  the  place  of  emigration,  on  Monday 
the  thirteenth  of  the  month  of  First  Rabf 50  when  he  alighted 
in  the  [quarter  of  the]  tribe  of  'Amr  b.  ‘Awf51  and  stayed  with 
them  for  twenty-two  nights,  or  according  to  others  for  four¬ 
teen  or  four  nights.  He  then  proceeded  into  al-Madlna  and 
alighted  in  the  quarter  of  the  tribe  of  al-Najjar  at  the  house  of 
Abu  |  Ayyub  al-Ansari52  (God  be  pleased  with  him),  with  266 
whom  he  stayed  for  seven  months,  until  he  had  built  his  own 

48  Prominent  in  the  first  generation  of  Muslims  (the  ‘Companions’),  noted 
for  his  extremely  scrupulous  piety,  and  an  authority  frequently  quoted  for 
Traditions  of  the  Prophet;  he  died  in  693. 

49  A  famous  jurist,  regarded  as  the  founder  of  the  Malikite  school  of  Sunni 
Law,  born  c.  715,  died  in  al-Madlna  795.  Since  both  Ibn  Jubair  and  Ibn 
Battuta  were  Malikites,  this  relic  was  of  particular  interest  to  them. 

50  The  year  1  of  the  Hijra  begins  on  Muharram  1  of  the  year  of  the  Pro¬ 
phet’s  migration,  15  July  622.  His  arrival  in  al-Madlna  is  usually  dated  to 
8  Rabi‘  I,  i.e.  20  September. 

51  A  clan  of  the  Aws,  which  with  the  Khazraj,  constituted  the  two  most 
important  tribes  in  al-Madlna,  subsequently  known  as  al-Ansar  (Muham¬ 
mad’s  ‘Helpers’).  The  quarter  of  the  Aws  lay  to  the  south  of  the  modern 
city,  in  the  suburb  of  Quba’  (see  p.  180  below). 

62  Najjar  was  a  clan  of  the  Khazraj  tribe  (see  the  preceding  note).  Abu 
Ayyub  was  one  of  the  most  famous  Madinian  ‘Companions’;  at  an  advanced 
age  he  took  part  in  the  Syrian  expedition  to  Constantinople  in  672,  fell  ill 
and  died  there,  and  was  buried  outside  the  western  wall  of  Constantinople. 
After  the  Ottoman  conquest  of  Constantinople  in  1453,  the  tomb  was  ‘dis¬ 
covered’  and  is  now  shown  in  the  mosque  of  the  western  suburb  of  Istanbul 
called  Eyyub  after  him.  His  house  is  still  pointed  out  in  al-Madlna,  close  by 
the  south-east  corner  of  the  mosque  (Rutter,  Holy  Cities,  II,  223). 

167 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA 

dwellings  and  his  mosque.  The  site  of  the  mosque  was  an 
enclosure  used  for  drying  dates,  and  belonging  to  Sahl  and 
Suhail,  the  two  sons  of  Rafi‘  b.  Abu  ‘Omar  b.  ‘Anid  b. 
Thalaba  b.  Ghanm  b.  Malik  b.  al-Najjar,  who  were  orphans 
under  the  guardianship  of  As‘ad  b.  Zurara  (God  be  pleased 
with  them  every  one).  It  is  said  also  that  they  were  under  the 
guardianship  of  Abu  Ayyub  (God  be  pleased  with  him).  The 
Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  bought  this 
drying-ground;  others  deny  this  and  assert  that  Abu  Ayyub 
gave  them  satisfaction  for  it,  and  others  again  say  that  they 
gave  it  to  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace). 
The  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  then 
built  the  mosque,  himself  working  on  it  with  his  Com¬ 
panions,  and  put  a  wall  round  it,  but  gave  it  neither  roofing 
nor  pillars.  He  made  it  square  in  shape,  its  length  being  a 
hundred  cubits  and  its  breadth  the  same,  though  some  say 
that  its  breadth  was  a  little  less,  and  fixed  the  height  of  the 
wall  at  the  stature  of  a  man. 

Later  on,  when  the  heat  grew  intense,  his  Companions 
267  spoke  of  |  roofing  it,  so  he  set  up  for  this  purpose  a  number  of 
columns,  formed  of  trunks  of  palms,  and  made  its  roof  of  their 
branches.  Then  when  it  rained,  the  mosque  dripped,  so  the 
Companions  of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace)  spoke  to  him  about  making  it  with  clay,  but  he  said 
‘On  no  account!  A  booth  like  the  booth  of  Moses’,  or  ‘A 
shelter  like  the  shelter  of  Moses,  and  man’s  estate  is  even  less 
enduring  than  that’.  On  being  asked  ‘What  was  the  shelter  of 
Moses  like?’  he  replied  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace):  ‘When 
he  stood  up,  the  roof  struck  his  head.’  He  made  three  gateways 
in  the  mosque,  but  the  southern  gateway  was  subsequently 
blocked  up  when  the  qibla  was  changed.53 

The  mosque  remained  in  this  condition  during  the  lifetime 
of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  and  that 
of  Abu  Bakr  (God  be  pleased  with  him).  ‘Omar  b.  al-Khattab 
(God  be  pleased  with  him)  during  his  government  enlarged 
the  mosque  of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace),  saying:  ‘Had  I  not  heard  the  Apostle  of  God  (God 

63  As  is  mentioned  below,  the  original  direction  of  prayer  was  towards 
J  erusalem,  but  was  turned  towards  Mecca  in  the  second  year  after  Muham¬ 
mad’s  migration  to  al-Madina. 

l68 


THE  PROPHET’S  MOSQUE 

bless  |  and  give  him  peace)  say,  “We  shall  have  to  enlarge  the  268 
mosque”,  I  should  not  have  enlarged  it.’  He  took  down  the 
wooden  columns  and  set  up  in  their  place  columns  of  brick, 
made  its  lower  courses  of  stone  up  to  the  height  of  a  man,  and 
raised  the  number  of  gateways  to  six,  of  which  there  were  two 
on  each  side  except  [the  southern  side,  since  it  was  in  the 
direction  of]  the  qibla.  With  regard  to  one  of  these  gateways 
he  said,  ‘It  is  requisite  to  leave  this  one  to  the  women’;  and 
he  was  never  seen  in  it,  down  to  the  time  when  he  went  into 
the  presence  of  God  (Mighty  and  Glorious  is  He).  He  said 
also,  ‘If  we  were  to  enlarge  this  mosque  until  it  extended  to 
the  burial-ground,54  it  would  still  be  the  mosque  of  the 
Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)’. 

‘Omar  was  desirous  of  throwing  into  the  mosque  a  place 
which  belonged  to  al-‘Abbas,  the  paternal  uncle  of  the 
Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace,  and  be 
pleased  with  both  Companions),  but  al-‘ Abbas  would  not 
let  him  have  it.  There  was  a  spout  in  it  which  used  to 
empty  into  the  mosque,  and  ‘Omar  removed  it,  saying  that  it 
was  a  nuisance  to  the  people.  Al-‘Abbas  disputed  his  action, 
and  they  agreed  to  invite  Ubayy  b.  Ka‘b55  (God  be  pleased 
with  both)  to  arbitrate  between  them.  When  they  went  to  his 
house  he  kept  them  waiting  for  a  time  before  allowing  them  to 
enter,  and  when  at  length  they  came  into  his  room  he  said  | 
‘My  slave-girl  was  washing  my  head’.  ‘Omar  made  to  speak,  269 
but  Ubayy  said  to  him  ‘Let  Abu’l-Fadl  [al-‘ Abbas]  speak,  on 
account  of  his  relationship  to  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless 
and  give  him  peace)’.  Al-‘ Abbas  then  said:  ‘[The  matter  in 
dispute  is]  a  building  plot  which  the  Apostle  of  God  (God 
bless  and  give  him  peace)  assigned  to  me;  I  built  upon  it  with 
his  aid  and  I  fixed  the  spout  while  my  feet  were  upon  no  other 
than  the  shoulders  of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give 
him  peace).  Now  ‘Omar  comes,  and  tears  down  the  spout,  and 
wishes  to  include  the  whole  plot  in  the  mosque.’  Ubayy  said: 

‘I  know  something  which  bears  on  this  subject.  I  heard  the 
Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  say:  David 

64  Al-Jabbana,  generally  understood  as  the  Baql‘  al-Gharqad,  outside  the 
city  to  the  east  (see  p.  179  below),  but  possibly  the  term,  in  its  original  con¬ 
text,  implied  ‘the  open  desert'. 

66  Seep.  140,  n.  275. 


169 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA 

(upon  him  be  peace)  desired  to  build  the  holy  temple  of  God 
[at  Jerusalem].  There  was  in  that  place  a  house  which 
belonged  to  two  orphans.  He  tried  to  coax  them  into  selling, 
but  they  refused;  after  a  while,  he  endeavoured  to  persuade 
them  and  they  sold  it.  Then  they  had  recourse  to  fraud;  the 
sale  was  retracted  and  he  bought  it  from  them  [again],  but 
they  retracted  it  in  the  same  way,  and  David  found  the  price 
too  high.  At  this  point  God  spoke  to  him  by  revelation  saying 
“If  thou  givest  from  aught  that  is  thine  thou  knowest  best; 

270  but  if  |  thou  givest  to  them  from  Our  provision,  give  to  them 
until  they  be  satisfied.  Verily,  the  house  which  is  of  all  houses 
the  most  exempt  from  injustice  is  a  house  which  belongeth 
unto  Me,  and  I  have  made  the  building  thereof  unlawful  to 
thee.”  He  said  “O  my  Lord,  grant  it  to  Sulaiman''  and  God 
granted  it  to  Sulaiman  (upon  him  be  peace)/  ‘Omar  said, 
‘Who  will  guarantee  to  me  that  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless 
and  give  him  peace)  said  this?’  Ubayy  went  out  to  find  cer¬ 
tain  men  of  the  Ansar,  who  confirmed  his  statement.  There¬ 
upon  ‘Omar  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  said,  ‘For  my  own 
part,  had  I  found  none  but  yourself,  I  should  have  accepted 
your  word,  but  I  thought  it  better  to  have  confirmation'; 
then  to  al-‘Abbas  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  he  said,  ‘By  God 
you  shall  put  back  the  spout  with  your  feet  upon  no  other 
than  my  shoulders'.  Al-‘ Abbas  did  so,  and  then  said,  ‘Now 
since  it  has  been  established  as  mine,  it  is  a  free-will  offering 
to  God'.  So  ‘Omar  pulled  down  the  building  and  threw  its  site 
into  the  mosque. 

It  was  enlarged  next  by  ‘Othman  (God  be  pleased  with 
him),  who  built  with  vigour  and  himself  laboured  on  it,  and 
who  used  to  spend  the  whole  day  in  it.  He  whitened  it,  gave 

271  solidity  to  its  location  by  hewn  stones,  and  widened  it  |  on  all 
its  sides  except  the  eastern  side.56  He  had  pillars  set  up  in  it, 
made  of  stones  fixed  firmly  by  pegs  of  iron  and  lead,  and 
roofed  it  with  teak.  He  also  constructed  a  mihrab  in  it,  though 
others  say  that  Marwan  was  the  first  to  build  the  mihrab ,  and 
others  again  that  it  was  ‘Omar  b.  ‘Abd  al-‘Az!z,  during  the 
Caliphate  of  al-Walid. 

The  mosque  was  subsequently  enlarged  by  al-Walid  b. 
‘Abd  al-Malik,  the  work  being  directed  by  ‘Omar  b.  ‘Abd 

66  Where  the  huts  of  the  Prophet’s  wives  still  stood. 

I70 


THE  PROPHET’S  MOSQUE 

al-‘Aziz.57  He  widened  and  beautified  it,  made  it  exceed¬ 
ingly  solid,  and  wrought  it  with  marble  and  gilded  teak. 
Al-WalTd  had  sent  to  the  king  of  the  Greeks  [saying],  ‘I 
desire  to  build  the  mosque  of  our  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give 
him  peace);  do  thou  then  aid  me  therein’,  in  reply  to  which  he 
sent  him  artisans  and  eighty  thousand  mithqals  of  gold. 
Al-WalTd  also  gave  orders  to  throw  the  rooms  of  the  wives 
of  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  into  the 
mosque.  ‘Omar  accordingly  bought  a  number  of  houses,  by 
which  three  sides  |  of  the  mosque  were  enlarged,  but  when  he 
came  to  the  southern  side,  ‘Ubaidallah  b.  ‘Abdallah  b.  ‘Omar 
refused  to  sell  the  house  of  Hafsa.  There  ensued  a  long 
argument  between  them,  until  in  the  end  ‘Omar  purchased 
it  upon  the  conditions  that  the  owners  should  have  what¬ 
ever  remained  of  the  ground  and  that  they  might  excavate 
from  the  rest  of  it  a  way  into  the  mosque,  and  this  is  the 
passage-way  which  is  now  in  the  mosque.58  ‘Omar  also 
had  four  minarets  added  to  the  mosque,  at  its  four  angles. 
One  of  them  overlooked  the  house  of  Marwan,  and  when 
Sulaiman  b.  ‘Abd  al-Malik  came  on  pilgrimage  he  stayed  in 
this  house,  and  as  the  muezzin  looked  down  upon  him  at  the 
time  of  the  call  to  prayer,  he  gave  orders  to  demolish  it.59 
‘Omar  also  had  a  mihrab  constructed  for  the  mosque,60  and 
it  is  said  that  he  was  the  first  who  introduced  the  mihrab. 

It  was  enlarged  again  by  al-Mahdi,  son  of  Abu  Ja‘far  al- 
Mansur.61  His  father  had  intended  to  do  this,  but  it  was  not  in 
his  decree.  Al-Hasan  b.  Zaid62  wrote  to  Abu  Ja‘far,  inciting 

67  On  this  reconstruction  see  J.  Sauvaget,  La  mosquee  omeyyade  de  Medine 
(Paris  1947),  and  my  article  ‘Arab-Byzantine  Relations’,  Dumbarton  Oaks 
Papers,  XII  (1958).  ‘Omar  b.  ‘Abd  al-‘Aziz,  later  caliph  (see  p.  93,  n.  97), 
was  governor  of  al-Madlna  from  705  to  712,  during  the  reign  of  his  cousin 
al-Walid  (705-15). 

68  Identified  previously  (p.  167)  with  the  passage  to  the  house  of  Abu  Bakr. 

69  This  was  the  south-west  minaret.  The  two  northern  minarets  were 
rebuilt  at  the  corners  of  the  enlarged  edifice  constructed  by  al-Mahdi. 
Sulaiman  was  the  brother  and  successor  of  al-Walid  as  caliph. 

60  This  has  remained  ever  since  the  position  of  the  principal  mihrab. 

61  ‘Abbasid  caliph  of  Baghdad,  reigned  775-85. 

62  Grandson  of  al-Hasan  b.  ‘Ali,  and  governor  of  al-Madina  from  767  to 
772  for  the  Caliph  al-Mansur,  subsequently  imprisoned  by  him,  released  by 
al-Mahdi,  and  died  in  784.  The  story  which  follows  reflects  the  hostility  of 
the  ‘Alids  to  the  memory  of  the  Caliph  ‘Othman,  who  was  elected  to  succeed 
‘Omar  I  in  preference  to  ‘Ali  in  644,  and  the  ambivalent  attitude  of  the 
‘Abbasids  towards  the  ‘Alids. 

171 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA 

273  him  to  enlarge  it  on  the  eastern  side  and  saying  that  if  |  it 
were  enlarged  eastwards  the  holy  Garden  would  occupy  the 
centre  of  the  holy  mosque.  Abu  Ja'far  suspected  him  of  being 
inspired  solely  by  the  desire  to  demolish  the  house  of 
'Othman  (God  be  pleased  with  him),  and  wrote  to  him  as 
follows:  ‘I  have  realized  what  your  aim  is — do  not  lay  a 
finger  on  the  house  of  the  shaikh  'Othman/  Abu  Ja'far  gave 
orders  that  the  courtyard  should  be  shaded  in  the  hot  season 
by  awnings  spread  out  on  ropes  stretched  between  balks  of 
timber,  which  were  to  be  set  up  in  the  courtyard,  so  that  they 
might  protect  the  worshippers  from  the  heat.  The  length  of 
the  mosque  in  the  edifice  constructed  by  al-Walid  was  two 
hundred  cubits;  al-Mahdl  brought  it  up  to  three  hundred 
cubits.  He  made  the  maqsura 63  level  with  the  ground — it  had 
previously  been  at  a  height  of  two  cubits  above  it — and 
inscribed  his  name  on  various  parts  of  the  mosque. 

Subsequently  al-Malik  al-Mansur  Qala/un  ordered  the  erec¬ 
tion  of  an  edifice  for  ablutions  beside  the  Gate  of  Peace.  Its 
building  was  supervised  by  the  pious  amir  'Ala  al-Din,  known 
as  al-Aqmar,64  and  he  constructed  it  with  a  court  of  spacious 
dimensions  and  private  chambers  running  round  the  walls, 

274  and  had  water  led  into  it.  |  He  proposed  to  erect  a  similar 
edifice  in  Mecca  (God  Most  High  ennoble  her),  but  his  inten¬ 
tion  was  not  fulfilled,  and  it  was  built  [instead]  by  his  son 

al-Malik  al-Nasir  between  al-Safa  and  al-Marwa.65  We  shall 

•  • 

speak  of  it  later,  if  God  will. 

The  Qibla  of  the  mosque  of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless 
and  give  him  peace)  is  an  absolutely  adjusted  qibla,  because 
he  himself  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  set  it  up,  or,  as 
others  say,  Gabriel  (upon  him  be  peace)  set  it  up,  or  else 
Gabriel  was  pointing  out  its  direction  to  him  as  he  set  it  up. 
It  is  related  that  Gabriel  (upon  him  be  peace)  made  a  sign  to 
the  hills  and  they  humbled  themselves  and  bowed  down  until 
the  Ka’ba  became  visible;  hence  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and 
give  him  peace),  when  he  was  building  [the  mosque],  could  see 
it  with  his  own  eyes.  Upon  every  consideration,  therefore,  it  is 
an  absolutely  adjusted  qibla.  On  the  first  arrival  of  the 

63  See  p.  127,  n.  213. 

64  Not  identified. 

65  See  p.  206  below. 

172 


THE  PROPHET’S  MOSQUE 

Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  at  al-Madlna  the  qibla 
was  towards  Jerusalem,  and  it  was  switched  towards  the 
Ka'ba  sixteen  or  seventeen  months  later.  | 

The  holy  pulpit.  It  is  related  in  the  Tradition  that  the  275 
Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  used  to  deliver 
his  addresses,  leaning  on  the  trunk  of  a  palm-tree  in  the 
mosque,  and  that,  when  the  pulpit  was  made  for  him  and  he 
removed  to  it,  the  palm-trunk  whimpered  for  him  as  a  she- 
camel  whimpers  for  her  calf.  It  is  related  further  that  he  (God 
bless  and  give  him  peace)  came  down  to  it  and  placed  his 
arms  around  it,  whereupon  it  ceased  its  lamentations,  and  he 
said,  ‘Had  I  not  embraced  it,  it  would  have  whimpered  until 
the  Day  of  Resurrection’.  The  traditional  narratives  are  at 
variance  as  to  who  actually  constructed  the  holy  pulpit.  It  is 
related  that  Tamlm  al-Dari66  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  was 
the  one  who  made  it;  others  say  that  a  slave  belonging  to  al- 
‘Abbas  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  made  it;  others  again  a 
slave  belonging  to  a  woman  of  the  Ansar,  and  this  version 
is  found  in  the  authentic  Tradition.  It  was  constructed  of 
ordinary  tamarisk- wood  from  al-Ghaba,67  some  say  of  the 
wood  of  the  oriental  tamarisk;  it  had  three  steps,  and  the 
Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  used  to  sit  on 
the  highest  step  and  place  his  holy  feet  on  the  middle  one. 
When  Abu  |  Bakr  al-Siddlq  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  was  276 
invested  with  the  supreme  authority,  he  sat  upon  the  middle 
step  and  placed  his  feet  upon  the  lowest  one,  and  when  ‘Omar 
(God  be  pleased  with  him)  succeeded,  he  sat  upon  the  first 
and  placed  his  feet  on  the  ground.  ‘Othman  (God  be  pleased 
with  him)  did  the  same  to  begin  with  during  his  Caliphate, 
but  later  on  mounted  to  the  third  step.  When  the  rule  passed 
to  Mu‘awiya  (God  be  pleased  with  him),  he  proposed  to 
remove  the  pulpit  to  Damascus,  whereupon  the  Muslims 
raised  a  loud  clamour,  a  violent  wind  blew  up,  the  sun  was 
eclipsed  and  the  stars  appeared  in  the  daytime,  the  earth  was 
darkened,  so  that  man  collided  with  man  and  no  path  could 
be  distinguished.  When  Mu‘awiya  saw  this  he  let  it  stay  where 

66  A  tribesman  of  the  Lakhmid  clan  of  al-Dar,  on  the  Syrian  borders,  who 
joined  Muhammad  in  631. 

67  Al-Ghaba,  i.e.  ‘the  thicket,  canebrake’,  was  applied  at  al-Madina  to  two 
thickets  some  ten  or  twelve  miles  to  the  north  of  the  city,  on  the  road  to 
Syria. 


173 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA 


it  was  and  added  six  steps  to  the  bottom  of  it,68  so  that  it 
amounted  to  nine  steps  in  all. 

The  preacher  and  the  imam  in  the  mosque  of  the  Apostle  of 
God  [God  bless  and  give  him  peace).  The  imam  of  the  illustrious 
mosque  at  the  time  of  my  entry  into  al-Madlna  was  Baha  | 

277  al-Din  ibn  Salama,69  one  of  the  notable  persons  of  Cairo. 
The  learned,  pious  and  ascetic  Tzz  al-Din  al-Wasiti,70  the 
quaesitum  of  the  Shaikhs  (God  profit  us  by  him),  was  acting 
as  his  deputy.  Before  him  the  duties  of  preacher  and  also  of 
qadl  in  al-Madlna  the  Illustrious  were  carried  out  by  Siraj 
al-Din  ‘Omar  al-Misri.71 

Anecdote.  It  is  told  that  this  Siraj  al-Din  continued  to  hold 
the  offices  of  qadl  and  preacher  at  al-Madlna  for  about  forty 
years.  He  wished  after  this  to  remove  to  Cairo,  when  he  saw 
the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  in  a  dream 
three  times  over,  each  time  forbidding  him  to  leave  al-Madlna 
and  announcing  to  him  the  imminence  of  his  term.  But  he 
would  not  be  checked  from  his  design,  left,  and  died  at  a  place 
called  Suwais  [Suez],  at  a  distance  of  three  nights’  journey 
from  Cairo,  before  reaching  the  latter — God  preserve  us  from 
an  evil  end.  His  deputy  was  the  legist  Abu  ‘Abdallah  Muham- 

278  mad  b.  |  Farhun72  (God’s  mercy  on  him),  whose  sons  are  now 
in  al-Madlna  the  illustrious,  [namely]  Abu  Muhammad  ‘Ab¬ 
dallah,  the  professor  of  the  Malikites  and  deputy  for  the  con¬ 
troller  of  the  judicial  administration,  and  Abu  ‘Abdallah 
Muhammad.  The  family  belongs  originally  to  the  city  of 
Tunis,  and  enjoys  an  honourable  and  respected  position 
there.  The  offices  of  preacher  and  qadl  at  al-Madlna  the 

68  I.e.  he  placed  it  on  an  ebony  stand  with  six  steps  of  the  same  dimensions. 
This  mimbar  was  destroyed  in  the  fire  of  1256.  The  legend  related  by  Ibn 
Battuta  is  a  common  theme  of  Muslim  tradition. 

69  Musa  b.  ‘Abd  al-Rahman  b.  Salama  al-Mudliji  (1267-1343/4),  noted 
for  his  calligraphy;  he  was  appointed  khatib  of  al-Madlna  in  this  same  year 
(■ Durar ,  IV,  375). 

70  Al-Hasan  b.  ‘All  b.  Isma'il,  born  at  Baghdad  1256,  died  in  1341  {Durar, 
11,20). 

71  ‘Omar  b.  Ahmad  b.  al-Khidr  al- Ansar!,  born  c.  1238,  appointed  preacher 
at  al-Madlna  in  1283,  later  also  qadi,  died  at  the  end  of  1325,  a  few  months 
after  resigning  on  account  of  illness.  He  was  the  first  Sunni  to  hold  on  per¬ 
manent  tenure  these  two  offices,  which  had  been  previously  monopolized 
by  the  Zaidis  (see  p.  182,  n.  103  below)  [Durar,  III,  149-50). 

72  A  Malikite  scholar,  of  Spanish  origin.  His  son  Badr  al-Din  ‘Abdallah 
died  in  1367/8,  and  the  second  son  Muhammad  in  1345.  The  precise  office  of 
the  former  is  not  quite  clear  {Durar,  III,  300). 

174 


OFFICERS  OF  THE  PROPHET'S  MOSQUE 

Illustrious  were  held  after  that  by  Jamal  al-Dln  of  Asyuf,  an 
Egyptian,73  who  was  formerly  the  qadi  in  the  castle  of  Karak. 

The  servitors  and  muezzins  of  the  illustrious  mosque.  The 
servitors  and  doorkeepers  of  this  illustrious  mosque  are 
Abyssinian  and  other  eunuchs,  men  of  fine  appearance, 
pleasant  features,  and  elegant  dress.  Their  chief  is  entitled 
the  Shaikh  of  the  Servitors,  and  ranks  equal  to  the  high  amirs. 
They  are  in  enjoyment  of  emoluments  derived  from  Egypt 
and  Syria  and  paid  over  to  them  every  year.  The  chief  of  the 
muezzins  in  the  illustrious  sanctuary  is  the  worthy  imam  and 
traditionist,  Jamal  al-Dln  |  al-Matarl,74  from  Matarlya,  a  279 
village  near  Cairo.  His  son  is  the  worthy  ‘Aflf  al-Dln  ‘Ab¬ 
dallah.  The  pious  shaikh  Abu  ‘Abdallah  b.  Muhammad  al- 
Gharnatl,  known  as  al-Tarras,75  resident  in  the  sanctuary,  is 
prior  of  the  ‘sojourners' — he  was  the  man  who  castrated 
himself  for  fear  of  temptation. 

Anecdote.  It  is  said  that  Abu  ‘Abdallah  al-Gharnatl  was 
servant  to  a  shaikh  called  ‘Abd  al-Hamld  al-‘AjamI.  The 
shaikh  had  a  good  opinion  of  him  and  used  to  trust  him  with 
his  family  and  property  and  leave  him  in  his  house  when  he 
journeyed  abroad.  On  one  occasion  when  he  set  out  and  left 
Abu  ‘Abdallah  as  usual  in  his  dwelling,  Shaikh  ‘Abd  al- 
Hamld's  wife  conceived  a  passion  for  him  and  tried  to  tempt 
him,  but  he  [rejected  her  advances]  saying  ‘I  fear  God,  and 
shall  not  deceive  one  who  trusts  me  with  his  family  and 
goods'.  She  did  not  cease  tempting  him  and  putting  herself 
in  his  way  until  he,  in  fear  lest  he  should  yield  to  |  the  tempta-  280 
tion,  castrated  himself  and  fell  in  a  faint.  The  people  found 
him  in  this  condition  and  tended  him  until  he  was  healed.  He 
became  one  of  the  servitors  of  the  holy  mosque  and  a 
muezzin  in  it  as  well,  and  rose  to  be  head  of  these  two  cor¬ 
porations.  He  has  remained  in  the  bonds  of  life  down  to  the 
present  time. 

Some  of  the  resident  scholars  at  al-Madma  the  illustrious. 
One  of  them  was  the  worthy  and  pious  shaikh  Abu'l-‘Abbas 

73  Ibrahim  b.  Muhammad  b.  Ahmad.  His  father  ‘Izz  al-Dln,  d.  1325,  was 
qadi  of  Karak  for  thirty  years  ( Durar ,  III,  315). 

74  Muhammad  b.  Ahmad  b.  Khalid  (1272-1340);  he  was  also  the  khatlb 
{Durar,  III,  315). 

75  Died  after  1350.  The  main  point  in  the  following  story  is  confirmed  by 
the  Spanish-Arab  historian  Ibn  al-Khatlb  {Durar,  IV,  167-8). 

175 


N 


T.O.I.B. 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA 


Ahmad  b.  Muhammad  b.  Marzuq,76  who  was  addicted  to 
pious  exercises,  fasting,  and  praying  in  the  mosque  of  the 
Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace),  patient  [under 
hardship  and  affliction]  and  looking  to  the  reward  in  the  life 
to  come.  He  used  often  to  take  up  residence  in  Mecca  the 
venerated.  I  saw  him  there  in  the  year  twenty-eight,  when 
he  was  the  most  assiduous  of  all  in  making  the  ‘circuit’.  I  used 
to  marvel  at  his  persistence  in  walking  round  and  round  [the 
Ka‘ba]  in  spite  of  the  fierceness  of  the  heat  in  the  circuiting 
pavement.77  For  this  pavement  is  flagged  with  black  stones, 

281  and  with  the  heat  of  the  sun  they  become  like  |  red-hot  plates. 
I  have  even  seen  water-carriers  pouring  water  over  it,  and  no 
sooner  did  the  water  flow  beyond  the  spot  on  which  it  was 
poured  than  that  spot  immediately  began  to  glow  with  heat. 
Most  of  the  circuiters  at  this  time  of  day  wear  sandals,  but 
Abu’l-‘Abbas  ibn  Marzuq  used  to  carry  on  his  circuits  with 
bare  feet.  I  saw  him  one  day  engaged  in  this  exercise,  and 
thought  I  should  like  to  circuit  with  him.  But  when  I  reached 
the  pavement  and  made  to  kiss  the  Black  Stone,  the  heat  of 
the  flagstones  smote  me  and  I  decided  to  go  back  after  kissing 
the  Stone.  It  was  only  with  a  great  effort  that  I  got  to  the 
Stone,  and  as  I  went  back  without  making  the  circuit  I  kept 
putting  my  mantle78  on  the  ground  and  walking  on  it  until  I 
reached  the  colonnade.  Living  in  Mecca  at  the  same  time  was 
Abu’l-Qasim  Muhammad  b.  Muhammad,  son  of  the  .  legist 
Abu’l-Hasan  Sahl  b.  Malik  al-Azdi,  the  wazir  of  Granada79 
and  notable  of  that  city.  He  used  to  make  the  seven-fold 

282  circuit  of  the  Ka‘ba  |  seventy  times  every  day,  but  he  would 
not  do  it  during  the  hours  of  midday,  owing  to  the  fierce  heat, 
whereas  Ibn  Marzuq  used  to  circuit  in  the  full  heat  of  midday 
in  addition  to  what  Abu’l-Oasim  did. 

Among  the  ‘sojourners’  at  al-Madlna  (God  ennoble  her) 
were  the  pious  and  devoted  blind  shaikh  Sa‘Id  of  Marrakush, 
and  the  shaikh  Abu  Mahdi  ‘Isa  b.  Hazrun  of  Miknasa. 

Anecdote.  The  shaikh  Abu  Mahdi  went  into  residence  at 

76  A  noted  saint,  from  Tilimsan,  d.  1339/40  ( Durar ,  I,  299). 

77  See  p.  199  below. 

78  Three  MSS  read  ‘my  prayer-carpet’. 

79  Muhammad  b.  Muhammad  (1264-1329),  noted  as  an  astronomer  and 
poet.  His  father,  the  vizier,  was  the  ra’is  or  Mayor  of  Granada  (d.  1271/2) 
under  its  first  Nasrid  prince,  Muhammad  I  [Durar,  IV,  178). 

176 


SOJOURNERS  AT  AL-MADINA 

Mecca  in  the  year  twenty-eight.  He  went  out  [on  one  occa¬ 
sion]  to  Mount  Hira'  with  a  party  of  ‘sojourners',  and  when 
they  had  climbed  the  mountain,  prayed80  at  the  place  where 
the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  used  to  make  his 
devotions,  and  descended  from  it,  Abu  Mahdl  fell  behind  the 
others.  He  found  a  pathway  on  the  mountain  and,  thinking  it 
to  be  |  a  short  cut,  went  along  it.  The  company,  on  reaching  2s3 
the  foot  of  the  mountain,  awaited  him,  and  when  he  did  not 
come  they  searched  all  around  them,  but  found  no  trace  of 
him.  Thinking  then  that  he  had  gone  on  ahead  of  them,  they 
continued  on  their  way  to  Mecca  (God  Most  High  ennoble 
her).  ‘Isa,  meanwhile,  followed  his  path,  which  only  led  him 
to  another  mountain.  He  lost  the  way  and  was  tormented 
with  thirst  and  heat.  His  shoes  were  cut  to  shreds  and  he  kept 
on  tearing  strips  from  his  clothes  and  wrapping  them  round 
his  feet,  until  he  was  too  exhausted  to  walk  further,  and  lay 
down  under  the  shade  of  a  sweet  lote-tree.  God  put  it  into  the 
mind  of  a  bedouin  upon  a  camel  to  go  that  way,  until  he  came 
upon  Tsa,  and  on  learning  what  had  befallen  him,  set  him 
on  the  camel  and  conducted  him  to  Mecca.  The  shaikh  had 
round  his  waist  a  girdle-purse  with  some  gold  in  it,  which  he 
gave  to  the  Arab.  He  spent  about  a  month  unable  to  stand 
upon  his  feet,  the  skin  peeled  off  them,  and  a  new  skin  grew 
on  them.  A  similar  adventure  happened  to  a  companion  of 
mine,  |  as  I  shall  relate  if  God  will.  284 

Amongst  the  ‘sojourners'  at  al-Madlna  the  Illustrious  was 
Abu  Muhammad  al-SarawI,  who  was  a  beautiful  reciter  of  the 
Qur’an.  He  went  into  residence  at  Mecca  in  the  year  men¬ 
tioned  above,  and  used  to  read  [for  public  instruction]  the 
‘Book  of  Healing'  of  the  qadi  ‘Iyad  there  after  the  noon 
prayer;81  he  also  officiated  as  imam  at  the  special  night 
prayers  there  during  Ramadan.  Another  of  these  ‘so¬ 
journers'  [at  al-Madlna]  was  the  legist  Abu'l-‘ Abbas  of  Fez, 
professor  of  the  Malikites  there,  who  married  the  daughter 
of  the  pious  shaikh  Shihab  al-DIn  of  Zarand. 

Anecdote.  It  is  told  that  AbuV Abbas  al-Fasi  engaged  in 

80  So  in  three  MSS,  against  the  reading  ‘reached’  in  the  edition. 

81  The  ‘Book  of  Healing’  ( al-Shifd )  was  a  highly  esteemed  biography  of 
Muhammad,  compiled  by  Iyad  b.  Musa  of  Ceuta  (1083-1149),  who  became 
qadi  of  his  native  town  and  subsequently  of  Granada.  For  the  night-prayers 
in  Ramadan  see  p.  239,  n.  195. 


1 77 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA 

conversation  one  day  with  someone,  and  the  talk  led  him  at 
length  to  say  a  monstrous  thing,  whereby,  through  his 
ignorance  of  genealogy  and  failure  to  guard  his  tongue,  he 
committed  a  grievous  sin — God  absolve  him.  For  he  said  that 
al-Husain,  son  of  'All  b.  Abu  Talib  (upon  them  be  peace)  left 
no  posterity.  His  words  were  carried  to  the  amir  of  al-Madlna, 

285  Tufaii  b.  Mansur  b.  Jammaz  |  al-Husainl,82  who  condemned 
and  rightly  condemned,  what  he  said,  and  proposed  to  exe¬ 
cute  him.  He  accepted,  however,  a  plea  on  his  behalf, 
banished  him  from  al-Madlna,  and,  it  is  said,  dispatched  a 
man  to  kill  him  by  stealth,  and  to  the  present  day  no  trace  of 
him  has  been  found — God  preserve  us  from  stumblings  and 
slipping  of  the  tongue. 

The  amir  of  al-Madlna  the  illustrious.  The  amir  of  al- 
Madlna  was  Kubaish  b.  Mansur  b.  Jammaz.83  [In  order  to 
acquire  his  position]  he  had  killed  his  uncle  Muqbil,  and  they 
say  that  he  made  the  ritual  of  ablution  with  his  blood.  Sub¬ 
sequently,  in  the  year  twenty-seven,  Kubaish  went  out  to  the 
desert  during  the  extreme  heats,  accompanied  by  his  friends. 
One  day,  overcome  by  the  midday  sun,  they  had  dispersed 
beneath  the  shade  of  some  trees,  when  suddenly,  before  they 
were  aware,  the  sons  of  Muqbil  [appeared]  with  a  troop  of 
their  slaves,  crying  ‘Vengeance  upon  the  slayers  of  Muqbil', 

286  and  slew  Kubaish  b.  Mansur  in  cold  blood,  and  licked  |  his 
blood.  The  government  [of  al-Madlna]  was  assumed  after  him 
by  his  brother  Tufaii  b.  Mansur,  the  amir  whose  expulsion  of 
Abu'l-'Abbas  al-FasI  we  have  mentioned  above. 

Some  holy  sanctuaries  outside  al-Madlna  the  illustrious.841 

82  Himself  a  descendant  of  al-Husain  (the  printed  text  has  al-Hasani  in 
error  for  al-Husaini),  Tufaii  was  appointed  amir  of  al-Madlna  in  June  1328, 
deposed  seven  years  later,  seized  the  city  again  in  1341/2,  was  again  de¬ 
posed  in  1349,  and  subsequently  attacked  the  city  and  plundered  the  pil¬ 
grims,  but  was  captured  and  died  in  captivity  in  Cairo. 

83  Kubaish  first  acted  as  deputy  for  his  father  Mansur,  jointly  with  Muqbil, 
was  driven  out  by  the  latter,  and  attacked  the  city  and  killed  Muqbil  in 
January  1310.  On  the  murder  of  Mansur  in  August  1325,  Kubaish  was  ap¬ 
pointed  amir,  and  was  himself  killed  in  June  1328  (not  1327,  as  stated  in  the 
text;  Zettersteen,  179).  The  amirs  of  al-Madina  at  this  time  were  mediatized 
princes  of  the  Husainid  branch  of  the  ‘Alid  family  (see  p.  46,  n.  140),  under 
the  suzerainty  of  the  Sultan  of  Egypt. 

84  Baqi‘  al-Gharqad  (‘the  field  of  bramble')  is  the  cemetery  of  al-Madlna. 
This  paragraph  is  for  the  most  part  abridged  from  Ibn  Jubair,  with  some 
verbal  changes. 


178 


SANCTUARIES  AT  AL-MADINA 

[The  first]  of  these  is  Baql‘  al-Gharqad,  which  lies  to  the  east 
of  al-Madlna  the  Sanctified.  One  goes  out  to  it  by  a  gate 
known  as  Bab  al-Baqi',  and  the  first  monument  which  the 
visitor  meets,  on  his  left  as  he  comes  through  the  gate,  is  the 
tomb  of  Saflya,  daughter  of  ‘Abd  al-Muttalib  (God  be  pleased 
with  both),  who  was  the  paternal  aunt  of  the  Apostle  of  God 
(God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  and  mother  of  al-Zubair  b. 
al-'Awamm  (God  be  pleased  with  him).85  In  front  of  her  is  the 
tomb  of  the  Imam  of  al-Madina,  Abu  ‘Abdallah  Malik  b.  Anas 
(God  be  pleased  with  him),86  surmounted  by  a  small  and  un¬ 
pretentious  cupola.  In  front  of  him  is  the  tomb  of  the  pure 
and  sanctified  offspring  of  the  Holy  Prophet,  Ibrahim,  son  of 
the  Apostle  of  God87  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace),  |  sur-  287 
mounted  by  a  white  cupola.  To  the  right  of  this  is  the  grave 
of  ‘Abd  al-Rahman  b.  ‘Omar  b.  al-Khattab  (God  be  pleased 
with  them),  the  man  who  is  known  as  Abu  Shahma,  and 
opposite  him  the  tomb  of  ‘Aqll  b.  Abu  Talib  (God  be  pleased 
with  him)  and  that  of  ‘Abdallah  son  of  Ja‘far  of  the  Two 
Wings,  son  of  Abu  Talib  (God  be  pleased  with  them).88 
Opposite  them  is  a  plot  said  to  contain  the  graves  of  the 
Mothers  of  the  Faithful  (God  be  pleased  with  them)89  and 
next  to  this  a  plot  in  which  is  the  tomb  of  al-‘ Abbas  b.  ‘Abd 
al-Muttalib,  the  uncle  of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and 
save  him)  and  that  of  al-Hasan  b.  ‘All  b.  Abu  Talib  (peace  be 
upon  them).90  The  plot  is  [surmounted  by]  a  cupola  soaring  in 
the  air  and  of  exquisite  construction,  to  the  right  as  one 
comes  through  the  Bab  al-Baqf  .  The  head  of  al-Hasan  is  in 

85  One  of  the  principal  Meccan  ‘Companions’  of  the  Prophet,  later  a 
wealthy  merchant;  killed  in  battle  against  ‘All  in  656.  His  son  ‘Abdallah 
maintained  an  anti-caliphate  in  Mecca  from  683  to  692  (see  p.  207,  n.  84,  and 
p.  235,  n.  179). 

86  See  above,  p.  167,  n.  49. 

87  Ibrahim  was  born  about  628  and  died  about  a  year  later;  his  mother 
was  a  Coptic  slave-girl,  Mariya,  who  had  been  presented  to  Muhammad  by 
the  governor  of  Egypt. 

88  Brother  and  nephew  respectively  of  ‘All.  When  the  latter’s  father, 
Ja'far,  was  killed  in  battle  with  the  Byzantine  troops  at  Mu’ta  in  629,  the 
Prophet  is  said  to  have  declared  that  he  was  now  flying  in  Paradise  with  two 
ruby  wings. 

89  I.e.  the  wives  of  the  Prophet. 

90  Al-‘Abbas  (d.  653)  was  the  ancestor  of  the  ‘Abbasid  caliphs  of  Baghdad 
(750-1258)  and  Cairo  (1261-1517).  Al-Hasan  (d.  669),  the  elder  brother  of 
Husain,  was  the  ancestor  of  the  Sharifs  of  Mecca,  of  Morocco,  and  of  other 
‘Alid  dynasties. 


179 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA 


the  direction  of  the  feet  of  al-‘ Abbas  (peace  be  upon  them). 
Each  of  their  graves  is  at  a  height  above  the  ground,  of  large 
dimensions,  and  covered  with  wooden  plaques  skilfully 
joined  together  and  inlaid  with  brass  plates  of  excellent 

288  workmanship.  The  Baqi‘  contains  also  the  tombs  |  of  the 
Emigrants  and  the  Helpers  and  all  the  other  Companions 
(God  be  pleased  with  them),  but  their  tombs  are  unknown  for 
the  most  part.  At  the  far  end  of  the  Baqi‘  is  the  tomb  of  the 
Commander  of  the  Faithful  Abu  ‘Omar  ‘Othman  b.  ‘Affan91 
(God  be  pleased  with  him),  surmounted  by  a  large  cupola,  and 
close  by  him  is  the  tomb  of  Fatima,  daughter  of  Asad  b. 
Hashim,  mother  of  ‘All  b.  Abu  Talib  (God  be  pleased  with  her 
and  with  her  son). 

Another  of  the  holy  sanctuaries  is  Quba',  about  two  miles 
to  the  south  of  al-Madina,  and  the  road  between  them  lies 
through  groves  of  palms.  At  Quba/  is  the  mosque  ‘which  was 
founded  on  piety  and  the  desire  to  please  God’,92  a  square- 
built  mosque  with  a  tall  white  minaret  visible  from  a  great 
distance.  In  the  centre  of  it  is  the  place  where  the  she-camel 
of  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  knelt  down  at 
the  end  of  his  journey,93  and  where  now  people  seek  to  obtain 
a  blessing  by  performing  the  prayer.  On  the  southern  side 
of  its  court  there  is  a  mihrab  on  a  platform,  which  marks  the 

289  first  |  place  in  which  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace)  bowed  himself  in  prayer.  South  of  the  mosque  is  a 
house,  which  belonged  to  Abu  Ayyub  al-Ansari  (God  be 
pleased  with  him),  and  next  to  it  are  houses  said  to  have 
belonged  to  Abu  Bakr,  ‘Omar,  Fatima,  and  ‘A‘isha  (God  be 
pleased  with  them).  Facing  the  mosque  is  the  well  of  Aris,  the 
one  whose  water  from  being  brackish  became  sweet  when  the 
Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  spat  into  it.  It  was 
into  this  same  well  that  the  holy  ring  dropped  from  [the 
hand  of]  ‘Othman  (God  be  pleased  with  him).94 

91  The  third  caliph,  succeeded  ‘Omar  by  election  in  644,  and  assassinated 
by  mutinous  troops  from  Egypt  in  656.  The  ‘Emigrants’  ( Muhdjirun )  were 
the  converts  from  Mecca  and  the  tribes  who  ‘emigrated’  to  al-Madina  during 
the  lifetime  of  the  Prophet;  the  Ansar  or  ‘Helpers’  were  the  inhabitants  of 
al-Madina  (see  above,  p.  167,  n.  51). 

92  Quotation  from  Qur’an,  ix,  108-9;  the  identification  of  this  reference 
with  the  mosque  at  Quba’  is  based  on  Tradition. 

93  See  above,  p.  167,  n.  51. 

94  Muhammad’s  silver  ring  was  used  as  a  seal  by  the  early  caliphs  in  suc- 

l8o 


SANCTUARIES  AT  AL-MADINA 


Among  the  places  of  visitation  is  the  cupola  of  the  Oilstone, 
where,  it  is  said,  oil  exuded  from. a  stone  for  the  Prophet  (God 
bless  and  give  him  peace).95  To  the  north  of  this  is  the  well 
of  Buda‘a,  facing  which  is  the  Devil’s  Hill,  where  the  Devil 
cried  on  the  day  of  Uhud  ‘Your  Prophet  is  slain’.96  On  the  lip 
of  the  trench,  which  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give 
him  peace)  dug  at  the  time  of  the  ‘leaguing  together  of  the 
confederates’,  is  a  ruined  tower,  known  as  the  Tower  of  the 
Celibates,  |  said  to  have  been  built  by  ‘Omar  for  the  un-  29o 
married  men  of  al-Madlna.97  In  front  and  to  the  west  of  this 
is  the  well  of  Ruma,  of  which  the  Commander  of  the  Faithful 
‘Othman  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  bought  the  half  for 
twenty  thousand  [dirhams].98 

Yet  another  of  the  holy  sanctuaries  is  Uhud,99  the  blessed 
hill  of  which  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace)  said  ‘Verily  Uhud  is  a  mount  which  loveth  us  and 
which  we  love’.  It  lies  to  the  north  of  al-Madlna  the  Illus¬ 
trious,  about  a  league  distant  from  her.  In  front  of  the  hill 
are  [the  tombs  of]  the  sanctified  martyrs  (God  be  pleased 
with  them).  There  is  to  be  seen  the  tomb  of  Hamza  (God  be 
pleased  with  him),  paternal  uncle  of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God 
bless  and  save  him),  with  the  martyrs  who  fell  at  Uhud  in  the 
cause  of  God  (God  be  pleased  with  them)  all  around  him. 
Their  graves  are  to  the  south  of  Uhud.  On  the  Uhud  road, 
[finally],  there  is  a  mosque  attributed  to  ‘All  b.  Abu  Talib 

cession,  and  its  loss  by  ‘Othman  (see  n.  91  above)  in  650  was  regarded  as  an 
ill  omen. 

95  On  the  western  edge  of  the  town,  according  to  Ibn  J  ubair. 

96  See  n.  99  below. 

97  In  the  battle  of  ‘the  Trench’  (year  5  of  the  Hijra,  April  627),  Muhammad 
successfully  withstood  a  siege  of  al-Madlna  by  the  Meccans  and  their  tribal 
allies.  The  battle  is  named  from  the  trench  ( khandaq )  which  was  dug  north 
of  the  town  to  prevent  the  Meccan  cavalry  from  repeating  their  success  at 
the  battle  of  Uhud  (see  n.  99  below) . 

98  The  well  belonged  to  a  J  ewish  citizen  who  sold  water  from  it  to  the 
Muslims;  at  the  Prophet’s  instigation  ‘Othman  paid  the  large  sum  mentioned 
(whether  for  half  or  all  of  the  well  is  disputed) . 

99  In  the  year  3  of  the  Hijra,  March  625,  the  Meccans  (in  retaliation  for 
their  defeat  at  Badr — see  p.  185,  n.  115)  attacked  Muhammad  and  the 
Muslims  of  al-Madlna,  who  took  up  a  position  on  the  lower  slope  of  Mount 
Uhud.  The  Meccan  cavalry  routed  the  Muslim  archers,  and  the  report  spread 
that  the  Prophet  had  been  killed,  but  though  wounded  he  was  able  to  hold 
his  position  and  the  Meccans  finally  withdrew.  For  the  Prophet’s  uncle 
Hamza  see  p.  79,  n.  39. 


l8l 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA 


(God  be  pleased  with  him),  another  mosque  attributed  to 
Salman  al-Farisi  (God  be  pleased  with  him),100  and  the 
Mosque  of  Victory,  where  the  Sura  of  Victory101  was  revealed 

291  to  |  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  save  him). 

Our  stay  at  al-Madina  the  Illustrious  on  this  journey  lasted 
four  days.  We  spent  each  night  in  the  holy  mosque,  where 
everyone  [engaged  in  pious  exercises];  some,  having  formed 
circles  in  the  court  and  lit  a  quantity  of  candles,  and  with 
book-rests  in  their  midst  [on  which  were  placed  volumes]  of 
the  Holy  Qur’an,  were  reciting  from  it;  some  were  intoning 
hymns  of  praise  to  God;  others  were  occupied  in  contempla¬ 
tion  of  the  Immaculate  Tomb  (God  increase  it  in  sweetness); 
while  on  every  side  were  singers102  chanting  in  eulogy  of  the 
Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace).  This  is  the 
custom  observed  by  all  [visitors  to  al-Madlna]  during  those 
blessed  nights,  and  they  also  bestow  large  sums  in  alms  upon 
the  ‘sojourners’  and  the  needy. 

In  my  company  on  this  journey  from  Damascus  to  al- 
Madlna  the  Illustrious  was  a  worthy  man  from  the  latter  city 
known  as  Mansur  b.  Shakl.  He  made  me  his  guest  there,  and 
we  met  again  later  on  in  Aleppo  and  in  Bukhara.  There  was 

292  also  in  my  company  the  qadi  of  the  Zaidiya,103  Sharaf  |  al-Dln 
Qasim  b.  Sinan,  and  I  was  accompanied  as  well  by  one  of  the 
pious  ‘poor  brethren’  belonging  to  Granada,  whose  name  was 
‘All  b.  Hujr  al-Umawi.104 

i°°  a  Persian  convert,  who  is  said  to  have  advised  Muhammad  to  dig  the 
trench  at  the  time  of  the  Meccan  siege  of  al-Madlna  (see  n.  97  above),  and 
was  later  revered  as  a  kind  of  patron  saint  by  the  Persian  Shi'ites.  He  was 
buried  at  the  village  which  is  called  by  his  name,  near  the  great  palace  of 
Ctesiphon  (Taq-i  Kisra),  south-east  of  Baghdad. 

101  Sura  xlviii  of  the  Qur’an,  but  the  occasion  of  the  revelation  of  this  sura 
is  much  disputed. 

102  The  French  translators  render  al-hudah  in  its  etymological  sense  of 
‘camel-drivers’,  but  it  was  by  this  time  used  commonly  of  singers  in 
general. 

103  The  Zaidis  are  a  Shi'ite  sect  (of  the  school  of  Zaid  b.  ‘All,  grandson  of 
Husain— see  p.  46,  n.  140 — killed  in  a  rebellion  at  Kufa  in  740),  strongly 
established  in  the  highlands  of  al-Yaman  since  the  ninth  century,  and  to 
which  most  of  the  Sharif s  of  Mecca  and  al-Madina  openly  or  secretly  adhered. 
The  descendants  of  Sinan  b.  ‘Abd  al-Wahhab  al-Husaini  were  hereditary 
Zaidi  qadis  and  khatibs  at  al-Madina,  and  continued  to  exercise  the  former 
office  concurrently  with  the  Sunni  qadis  appointed  by  the  sultan  of  Egypt 
(see  p.  174,  n.  71)  (Durar,  III,  1 50). 

104  Not  identified.  ' 


182 


ASSOCIATES  AT  AL-MADINA 

Anecdote.  When  we  reached  al-Madina  (God  ennoble  her 
and  bless  her  inmate  [the  Prophet]  with  most  bounteous 
benediction)  this  ‘All  b.  Hujr  whom  I  have  mentioned  told  me 
that  he  had  that  night  seen  in  his  sleep  one  who  said  to  him: 
'Listen  to  me,  and  learn  this  by  heart  from  me: 

Rejoice,  ye  pilgrims  to  his  shrine  through  whom 
Damnation  ye  shall  'scape  on  that  dread  Day! 

At  Taiba  ye  have  reached  the  Beloved's  tomb — 

How  blest  who  there  one  morn  or  evening  stay!' 

This  man  'sojourned'  for  a  time  at  al-Madina,  after  making 
his  pilgrimage,  and  subsequently  travelled  to  the  city  of 
Dihli,  the  capital  of  the  land  of  India,  in  the  year  forty- 
three,105  and  placed  himself  under  my  protection.  I  told  the 
story  of  his  dream  in  the  presence  of  the  king  of  India,  who 
gave  orders  in  consequence  to  summon  him  to  the  court.  |  He  293 
appeared  before  him  accordingly  and  related  the  same  story 
to  him,  which  was  so  admired  and  approved  of  by  the  king 
that  he  addressed  some  kind  words  to  'Ali  in  Persian,  gave 
orders  to  assign  a  residence  to  him,  and  made  him  a  present 
of  three  hundred  gold  tankahs  (the  weight  of  the  tankah 
being  [equivalent  to]  two  and  a  half  of  the  dinars  of  the 
Maghrib),  besides  giving  him  a  horse  with  decorated  saddle 
and  bridle,  and  a  robe  of  honour,  and  fixing  a  daily  stipend 
for  him. 

There  lived  in  Dihli  at  that  time  a  scholar,  an  affable  man, 
of  a  Granada  family  but  himself  born  in  Bijava,  who  was 
known  in  India  as  Jamal  al-Din  al-Maghribi.  This  ‘Ali  b. 
Hujr  became  a  friend  of  his,  promised  to  give  him  his 
daughter  in  marriage,  and  put  him  up  in  a  tiny  building 
outside  his  own  house.  He  also  bought  a  slave-girl  and  a 
slave-boy.  ‘All  used  to  leave  his  money  in  the  receptacle  for 
his  clothes,  for  he  would  not  trust  anyone  with  it;  these  two 
slaves  plotted  together  to  take  his  gold,  and  take  it  they  did 
and  then  fled.  When  he  came  to  the  house  he  found  no  trace 
either  of  them  |  or  of  the  gold,  and  he  abstained  from  food  294 
and  drink  and  became  seriously  ill,  out  of  grief  at  what  had 
befallen  him.  I  laid  his  case  before  the  king,  who  gave  orders 
that  the  loss  should  be  made  good  to  him,  and  sent  a  mes- 

105  743  a.h.  began  on  6  June  1342. 

183 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA 


senger  to  tell  him  of  this,  but  the  messenger  found  him  dead 
(God  Most  High  have  mercy  on  him). 

Then  came  our  departure  from  al-Madlna  to  go  to  Mecca 
(God  Most  High  ennoble  her).  We  halted  near  the  mosque  of 
Dhul-Hulaifa,  where  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give 
him  peace)  assumed  the  pilgrim  garb.106  It  is  at  a  distance  of 
five  miles  from  al-Madlna,  of  whose  sacred  territory  it  forms 
the  limit,  and  not  far  from  it  is  the  wadi  of  al-'Aqiq.107  Here  I 
divested  myself  of  my  tailored  clothes,  bathed,  put  on  the 
garment  of  my  consecration,  and  made  a  prayer  of  two 
bowings.  I  entered  the  pilgrim  state  under  obligation  to  carry 
out  the  rites  of  the  Greater  Pilgrimage  without  conjunction 
[with  those  of  the  Lesser  Pilgrimage],108  and  [in  my  en¬ 
thusiasm]  I  did  not  cease  crying  Labbaika  Alldhumma 109 
295  through  every  valley  |  and  hill  and  rise  and  descent  until  I 
came  to  the  Pass  of  ‘All  (upon  him  be  peace)110  where  I  halted 
that  night.  We  set  out  from  there  and  encamped  at  al- 
Rawha/,111  where  there  is  a  well  known  as  Bir  Dhat  al-fAlam, 
and  it  is  said  that  ‘All  (upon  him  be  peace)  fought  with  the 

106  The  pilgrim  garb  ( ihram  =  entry  into  the  state  of  consecration)  consists 
of  two  unsewn  white  wrappers,  one  worn  round  the  waist  and  the  other  over 
the  shoulders.  It  must  be  put  on  with  the  proper  ceremonies  of  ablution  and 
prayers  on  entering  the  sacred  territory  (haram)  of  Mecca  at  fixed  points 
on  the  various  caravan  roads,  called  miqat,  but  may  be  put  on  earlier  as  a 
mark  of  special  piety  or  of  penitence.  In  consequence  of  the  Prophet’s  example, 
the  miqat  of  the  inhabitants  of  al-Madlna  was  in  early  times  at  Dhu’l-Hulaifa, 
but  was  later  on  postponed  to  one  of  the  later  stations  on  the  road  (see 
below). 

107  The  ‘  Aqiq  stream  flows  northwards,  a  few  miles  to  the  west  of  al-Madlna. 

108  In  Muslim  doctrine,  the  statement  of  ‘intention’  ( nlya )  is  an  integral 
and  essential  part  of  every  religious  ceremony.  The  intending  pilgrim  thus 
formally  declares  his  intention  of  performing  either  the  rites  of  the  annual 
Greater  Pilgrimage  or  those  of  the  Lesser  Pilgrimage  (‘umra,  see  p.  234), 
or  both.  If  the  Lesser  Pilgrimage  is  excluded,  it  becomes  necessary 
to  go  out  again  to  one  of  the  mlqats  to  assume  the  pilgrim  robes  for  the 
‘umra. 

109  The  repetition  of  this  formula  is  also  one  of  the  essential  rites  of  the 
Pilgrimage.  It  is  of  pre-Islamic  origin  (Muslim  tradition  attributes  it  to 
Abraham),  and  its  original  significance  is  doubtful,  but  for  the  Muslim  the 
meaning  is  ‘At  Thy  service,  O  God!’ 

110  Shi’ b  al-Hajj,  described  by  Richard  Burton  ( Pilgrimage ,  1st  ed.,  II, 
14). 

111  Many  of  the  medieval  place-names  have  since  disappeared.  According 
to  the  Arabic  geographer  al-Hamdanl,  al-Rawha’  was  forty-seven  (Arabic) 
miles  from  al-Madlna  (the  Arabic  mile  measuring  1941  metres  against  1609 
metres  in  the  English  mile) . 


184 


FROM  AL-MADINA  TO  BADR 

Jinn  in  this  well.112  Then  we  continued  our  march  and 
encamped  at  al-Safra,113  which  is  a  cultivated  and  inhabited 
valley  in  which  there  is  water,  palm  gardens,  buildings,  and  a 
fortified  grange,  occupied  by  the  Hasani  Sharifs114and  others. 
There  is  a  large  fort  in  the  place  also,  and  in  the  neighbour¬ 
hood  are  a  number  of  other  forts  and  contiguous  villages. 

We  continued  our  journey  from  this  place  and  encamped  at 
Badr,  where  God  aided  His  Apostle  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace)  and  performed  His  holy  promise  and  extirpated  the 
champions  of  the  polytheists.115  It  is  a  village  with  a  succes¬ 
sion  of  palm  groves  and  a  strong  fort  which  can  be  entered 
[only]  from  the  bed  of  a  water-course  between  hills.  There  is 
at  Badr  a  gushing  spring,  the  water  from  which  forms  a 
stream.  The  site  of  the  pit  into  which  the  [bodies  of  the]  poly¬ 
theists,  the  enemies  of  God,  were  cast  is  now  a  fruit-garden,  | 
and  the  place  [of  burial]  of  the  martyrs  (God  be  pleased  with  296 
them)  is  behind  it.  The  Hill  of  Mercy  upon  which  the  angels 
descended116  is  to  the  left  as  one  enters  this  place,  in  the 
direction  of  al-Safra/ .  Opposite  it  is  the  Hill  of  Drums, 
resembling  a  long-backed  sand-dune,  and  the  people  of  that 
country  assert  that  they  hear  a  sound  there  like  the  noise  of 
drums  on  the  eve  of  every  Friday.  The  site  of  the  hut  in  which 
the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  passed  the 
day  of  Badr,  beseeching  his  Lord  (Mighty  and  Exalted  is  He), 
is  at  the  foot  of  the  Hill  of  Drums,  and  the  site  of  the  battle  is 
in  front  of  it.  By  the  palm  trees  of  the  pit  [mentioned  above] 

112  This  place,  now  called  Bir  ‘All  or  Abar  ‘All  (Well  or  Wells  of  ‘All)  is 
the  present  miqat  for  pilgrims  from  al-Madina.  The  name  is  derived  from  a 
popular  legend,  referred  to  in  the  text;  see  R.  Paret,  Die  legenddre  Maghazi- 
Literatur  (Tubingen,  1930),  66-7.  It  was,  however,  dismissed  as  a  super¬ 
stitious  belief  of  ignorant  bedouins  by  Ibn  Taimiya  (see  p.  135,  n.  251),  who 
calls  the  valley  Wadi  al-‘Atiq. 

113  Centre  of  a  rich  oasis  in  the  Wadi’l-Safra  (cf.  Ritter,  Arabien,  II, 
144-5)* 

114  I.e.  descendants  of  al-Hasan  b.  ‘All  (see  p.  179,  n.  90). 

116  The  battle  at  Badr  in  year  2  of  the  Hijra  (March  624),  in  which 
Muhammad’s  Meccan  opponents  were  defeated  by  a  much  smaller  force  of 
Muslims  (about  320),  was  the  first  important  victory  of  the  nascent  Muslim 
community,  and  one  of  the  turning-points  of  Muhammad’s  career.  Badr  is 
situated  some  twenty  miles  south  by  west  of  al-Safra’,  and  the  description 
of  the  site  is  taken  almost  verbally  from  Ibn  J  ubair. 

116  Reference  to  Qur’an,  iii,  124:  ‘When  thou  wert  saying  to  the  Believers 
"Shall  it  not  suffice  you  that  your  Lord  will  aid  you  with  three  thousand 
angels  sent  down?”  ’ 


185 


FROM  DAMASCUS  TO  MECCA 

is  a  mosque  which  is  said  to  mark  the  place  where  the  she- 
camel  of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace) 
lay  down.  From  Badr  to  al-Safra’  is  about  one  band 117  along 
a  water-course  enclosed  by  hills  and  in  which  springs  flow 
perennially  and  palm  groves  succeed  one  another  without 
interruption. 

We  went  on  from  Badr  into  the  desert  known  as  the  Flat  of 

297  al-Bazwa,118  which  is  |  a  wilderness  where  the  guide  wanders 
from  the  way  and  friend  has  no  thought  to  spare  for  friend — 
a  three  nights'  journey.  At  the  end  of  this  march  is  the  vale  of 
Rabigh,  in  which  pools  are  formed  by  the  rain  and  hold  the 
water  for  a  long  time.  From  this  point,  which  is  just  before 
al-Juhfa,119  the  pilgrims  from  Egypt  and  the  Maghrib  enter 
the  pilgrim  state.120 

We  set  out  from  Rabigh  and  marched  for  a  space  of  three 
nights  to  Khulais.121  We  passed  through  the  defile  of  al- 
Sawlq,  which  is  situated  at  a  distance  of  half  a  day's  journey 
from  Khulais,  and  a  very  sandy  place.  The  pilgrims  make  a 
point  of  supping  sawiq122  there,  and  bring  it  with  them  from 
Egypt  and  Syria  for  this  purpose;  they  serve  it  out  to  people 
mixed  with  sugar,  and  the  amirs  fill  the  watering-tanks  with 
it  and  serve  the  people  from  them.  It  is  related  that  when  the 
Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  passed  through 
this  place  his  Companions  had  no  food  with  them,  so  he 

298  taking  some  of  its  sand  gave  it  to  them,  |  and  they  supped  it 
[and  found  it  to  be]  sawiq. 

We  then  encamped  at  the  pool  of  Khulais,  which  lies  in  an 
open  plain  and  has  many  palm  groves.  It  possesses  a  strongly 
built  fort  on  the  top  of  a  hill,  and  on  the  plain  there  is  [an¬ 
other]  fort  in  ruins.  There  is  a  gushing  spring  at  this  place, 

117  Four  leagues  or  twelve  Arab  miles,  but  the  geographers  reckon  the 
distance  at  twenty  miles. 

118  The  ‘Flat  of  al-Bazwa’  is  the  broken  region  between  the  coast  and  the 
ridge  of  Jabal  Subh,  which  runs  parallel  to  the  coast  and  rises  to  heights  of 
4500  feet. 

119  Fifty-six  miles  from  al-Rawha’  and  103  miles  from  al-Madina. 

120  I.e.  assume  the  pilgrim  garb  and  obligations.  In  modern  times  the 
miqat  is  al-Mahya’a,  a  village  six  miles  east  of  Rabigh. 

121  Khulais  seems  to  have  replaced  the  former  station  of  Qudaid  (twenty- 
four  miles  from  al-Juhfa  and  twenty-three  from  the  next  station  of  ‘Usfan), 
and  lay  seven  miles  south  of  it. 

122  Parched  barley  meal,  made  into  gruel  with  water  or  butter. 

l86 


FROM  BADR  TO  MECCA 

for  whose  waters  channels  have  been  made  in  the  ground123 
so  that  they  flow  to  the  cultivated  lands.  The  lord  of  Khulais 
is  a  sharlf  of  the  Hasan!  line.  The  bedouins  of  that  neighbour¬ 
hood  hold  a  great  market  there,  to  which  they  bring  sheep, 
fruits  and  condiments. 

We  marched  next  to  ‘Usfan,124  in  an  open  plain  between 
hills,  where  there  are  wells  of  spring  water,  one  of  which  is 
attributed  to  ‘Othman  b.  ‘Affan  (God  be  pleased  with  him). 
The  laddered  way  which  is  likewise  attributed  to  ‘Othman  is 
a  half  day's  journey  from  Khulais;  it  is  a  narrow  pass  between 
two  hills,  and  at  one  part  of  it  there  is  a  pavement  in  the  shape 
of  steps,  and  traces  of  old  buildings.  There  is  a  well  there 
attributed  to  ‘All  (peace  be  upon  him),  and  it  is  said  that  |  he  299 
originated  it.  At  ‘Usfan  there  is  an  ancient  fort  and  a  tower  of 
solid  masonry,  which  has  been  weakened  by  decay;  there  are 
also  many  wild  dwarf  palms  there. 

We  then  marched  from  ‘Usfan  and  encamped  in  the  Bot¬ 
tom  of  Marr,  also  called  Marr  al-Zuhran,125  a  fertile  valley 
with  numerous  date-palms  and  a  gushing  spring  of  flowing 
water  which  serves  for  the  irrigation  of  that  district.  From 
this  valley  fruit  and  vegetables  are  brought  to  Mecca  (God 
Most  High  ennoble  her).  We  set  out  again  at  night  from  this 
blessed  valley,  with  hearts  full  of  gladness  at  reaching  the 
goal  of  their  hopes,  rejoicing  in  their  present  condition  and 
future  state,  and  arrived  in  the  morning  at  the  City  of 
Surety,  Mecca  (God  Most  High  ennoble  her). 

123  From  Ibn  Jubair’s  account  this  appears  to  mean  that  the  water  is 
distributed  through  subterranean  conduits  ( qanats ). 

124  Thirty-six  miles  from  Mecca. 

125  Thirteen  miles  from  Mecca.  Zuhran  is  explained,  somewhat  uncer¬ 
tainly,  as  the  name  of  the  valley,  now  called  Wadi  Fatima. 


187 


CHAPTER  IV 


Mecca 

WE  presented  ourselves  forthwith  at  the  Sanctuary 
of  God  Most  High  within  her,  the  place  of  abode  of 
His  Friend  Ibrahim  and  scene  of  mission  of  His 
Chosen  One,  Muhammad  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace). 
We  entered  the  illustrious  Holy  House,  wherein  'he  who 
3oo  enters  is  secure’,1  by  |  the  gate  of  the  Banu  Shaiba  and  saw 
before  our  eyes  the  illustrious  Ka'ba  (God  increase  it  in 
veneration),  like  a  bride  who  is  displayed  upon  the  bridal- 
chair  of  majesty,  and  walks  with  proud  step  in  the  mantles  of 
beauty,  surrounded  by  the  companies  which  had  come  to  pay 
homage  to  the  God  of  Mercy,  and  being  conducted  to  the 
Garden  of  Eternal  Bliss.  We  made  around  it  the  [seven-fold] 
circuit  of  arrival  and  kissed  the  holy  Stone;  we  performed  a 
prayer  of  two  bowings  at  the  Maqam  Ibrahim  and  clung  to 
the  curtains  of  the  Ka'ba  at  the  Multazam2  between  the  door 
and  the  Black  Stone,  where  prayer  is  answered;  we  drank  of 
the  water  of  Zamzam,3  which,  being  drunk  of,  possesses  the 
qualities  which  are  related  in  the  Tradition  handed  down  from 
the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace);  then,  having  run 
between  al-Safa  and  al-Marwa,4  we  took  up  our  lodging  there 
in  a  house  near  the  Gate  of  Ibrahim.  Praise  be  to  God,  Who 
301  hath  honoured  us  by  visitation  to  this  holy  House,  |  and  hath 
caused  us  to  be  numbered  amongst  those  included  in  the 

1  Qur’an,  iii,  97,  the  inviolateness  of  Mecca  being  a  sign  of  God’s  protec¬ 
tion  (Qur’an,  xcv,  3).  This  paragraph  reproduces  the  substance  of  the  paral¬ 
lel  passage  in  Ibn  Jubair.  For  the  ‘gate  of  the  Banu  Shaiba’,  the  traditional 
entrance  of  pilgrims  and  visitors  to  the  Ka'ba,  see  p.  202,  n.  55. 

2  For  the  Maqam  Ibrahim  see  p.  198  below,  and  for  the  Multazam  p.  194. 

3  See  p.  199  below.  The  tradition  referred  to  is  as  follows:  ‘The  water  of 
Zamzam  when  drunk  of  has  this  quality:  if  thou  drink  it  seeking  restoration 
from  illness,  God  restoreththee;  if  thou  drink  it  for  thy  satiation  from  hunger, 
God  satisfieth  thee;  if  thou  drink  it  to  quench  thy  thirst,  God  quencheth 
it;  it  is  the  hollowing  of  Gabriel  and  God’s  gift  of  water  to  Ishmael.’ 

4  See  p.  205  below. 

188 


MECCA 


prayer  of  al-Khalil  (blessing  and  peace  upon  him),5  and  hath 

rejoiced  our  eyes  by  the  vision  of  the  illustrious  Ka'ba  and 

the  honourable  House,  of  the  holy  Stone,  of  Zamzam  and  the 

Hatlm.6 
•  • 

Of  the  wondrous  doings  of  God  Most  High  is  this,  that  He 
has  created  the  hearts  of  men  with  an  instinctive  desire  to 
seek  these  sublime  sanctuaries,  and  yearning  to  present 
themselves  at  their  illustrious  sites,  and  has  given  the  love  of 
them  such  power  over  men’s  hearts  that  none  alights  in  them 
but  they  seize  his  whole  heart,  nor  quits  them  but  with  grief 
at  separation  from  them,  sorrowing  at  his  far  journey  away 
from  them,  filled  with  longing  for  them,  and  purposing  to 
repeat  his  visitation  to  them.  For  their  blessed  soil  is  the  focus 
of  all  eyes,  and  love  of  it  the  marrow  of  all  hearts,  in  virtue  of 
a  wise  disposition  of  God  which  achieves  its  sublime  purpose, 
and  in  fulfilment  of  the  prayer  of  His  Friend  [Abraham] 
(upon  him  be  peace).  Intensity  of  yearning  brings  them  near 
while  yet  far  off,  presents  them  to  the  eye  while  yet  unseen, 
and  makes  of  little  account  |  to  him  who  seeks  them  the  302 
fatigues  which  he  meets  and  the  distress  which  he  endures. 
How  many  a  weakling  sees  death  before  reaching  them,  and 
beholds  destruction  on  their  road,  yet  when  God  brings  him 
safely  to  them  he  welcomes  them  with  joy  and  gladness,  as 
though  he  had  not  tasted  bitterness,  nor  suffered  torment  and 
affliction  for  their  sakes!  Truly  this  is  a  divine  thing  and  a 
God-given  benefit,  a  proof  uncontaminated  by  ambiguity, 
unobscured  by  dubiety,  and  inaccessible  to  deception,  which 
is  of  compelling  cogency  in  the  perception  of  men  of  under¬ 
standing,  and  shatters  the  rationalism  of  the  intellectuals.7 
He  whose  soul  God  Most  High  hath  sustained  [by  granting 
him]  to  alight  in  those  regions  and  to  present  himself  in  that 
court,  upon  him  hath  God  bestowed  the  greatest  of  all  favours 
and  possession  of  the  best  of  both  abodes,  that  of  his  present 

5  Qur’an,  ii,  12 1-2:  ‘And  when  Ibrahim  erected  the  pedestals  of  the  House 
with  Isma'il  [saying]  “O  our  Lord,  accept  [this]  from  us.  Thou  verily  art  the 
all-hearing,  the  all-knowing,  O  our  Lord,  and  make  us  submissive  [muslims] 
to  Thee  and  of  our  posterity  a  people  submissive  [muslirn]  to  Thee,  and  show 
us  our  rites  of  Pilgrimage  and  turn  toward  us;  verily  Thou  art  the  swift  to 
turn,  the  merciful."  ’ 

6  See  p.  199,  n.  43  below. 

7  The  phrase  reflects  the  characteristic  North- African  (and  especially 
Malikite)  distrust  of  the  over-subtle  theologians  of  the  East. 

189 


MECCA 


world  and  the  other  of  the  world  to  come.  It  is  meet  for  him, 
therefore,  that  he  should  abundantly  give  thanks  for  what  He 
has  bestowed  upon  him.  May  God  Most  High  number  us 

303  amongst  those  whose  visitation  is  accepted,  |  whose  mer¬ 
chandise8  in  seeking  to  perform  it  brings  him  gain  [in  the 
world  to  come] ,  whose  actions  in  the  cause  of  God  are  written 
[in  the  Book  of  Life],  and  whose  burdens  of  sin  are  effaced  by 
the  acceptance  [of  the  merit  earned  by  Pilgrimage],  through 
His  loving  kindness  and  graciousness. 

The  venerable  city  of  Mecca.9  Mecca  is  a  large  town,  com¬ 
pactly  built  and  oblong  in  shape,  situated  in  the  hollow  of  a 
valley  which  is  so  shut  in  by  hills  that  the  visitor  to  her  sees 
nothing  of  her  until  he  actually  reaches  her.  These  hills  that 
overlook  her  are  of  no  exceeding  elevation.  The  Two  rugged 
hills'  of  them  are  the  Hill  of  Abu  Qubais,  on  the  southern  side 
of  the  town,  and  the  Hill  of  Qu‘aiqi‘an  on  its  [western]10  side. 
To  the  north  of  the  town  is  the  Red  Hill  (al-Jabal 
al-Ahmar),  and  on  the  side  of  Abu  Qubais  are  Greater 
Ajyad  and  Lesser  Ajyad,  both  of  which  are  ravines,  and 
al-Khandama,  a  mountain;  this  will  be  described  later.11  All 

304  the  places  of  the  pilgrimage  ceremonies — Mina,  |  ‘Arafa, 
and  al-Muzdalifa — lie  to  the  east  of  Mecca  (God  ennoble 
her). 

At  Mecca  the  city  gates  are  three  in  number:  Bab  al-MaTa, 
in  the  highest  [i.e.  northern]  part  of  the  town;  Bab  al- 
Shubaika,  in  its  lowest  part,  known  also  as  Bab  al-Zahir  and 
Bab  al-‘Umra — this  is  on  the  western  side,  and  through  it  lies 
the  road  to  al-Madina  the  Illustrious,  Cairo,  Syria,  and  Judda; 
it  is  from  it  also  that  one  sets  out  to  al-TanTm,  as  will  be 

8  I.e.  exchange  of  wordly  profit  and  advantages  for  the  labours  and  re¬ 
ward  of  the  Pilgrimage. 

9  The  description  of  Mecca  and  the  ceremonies  there,  which  occupies  the 
next  fifty  pages  or  so,  is  mostly  taken  from  Ibn  Jubair,  but  with  con¬ 
siderable  rearrangement  and  some  revisions. 

10  Lacuna,  completed  from  Ibn  Jubair.  As  the  French  editors  point  out, 
the  statement  that  Abu  Qubais  is  to  the  south  is  an  error,  corrected  on  p. 
2io  below.  The  two  ravines  or  hill-paths  of  Jiyad  or  Ajyad  lie  between  Abu 
Qubais  and  the  neighbouring  hill  to  the  southward,  Jabal  Kuda.  The  term 
‘the  two  rugged  hills’  ( al-Akhshabani )  is  derived  from  a  tradition  that 
Gabriel,  in  reference  to  the  rejection  of  Muhammad’s  mission  by  the  Meccans, 
said  to  him  ‘Shall  I  close  the  two  rugged  hills  upon  them?’  to  which  the 
Prophet  replied  ‘Leave  me  to  give  warning  to  my  people’. 

11  See  p.  21 1  below. 

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MECCA 

(after  Rutter) 

1  Fort  of  Jiyad  6  A I  Mac 

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4  Al-  Shubayka 


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DESCRIPTION  OF  MECCA 


described  later12 — and  Bab  al-Masfal,  which  is  situated  on 
the  southern  side,  and  is  the  gate  through  which  Khalid  b. 
al-Walid  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  entered  on  the  day  of  the 
Conquest. 

Mecca  (God  ennoble  her),  as  God  has  related  in  His  glorious 
Book,  citing  the  words  of  His  prophet  al-Khalil,  lies  'in  a 
valley  bare  of  corn’,13  but  the  blessed  prayer  [of  Abraham] 
has  anticipated  her  needs,  so  that  every  delicacy  is  brought  to 
her,  and  the  fruits  of  every  kind  are  gathered  for  her.  I 
myself  have  eaten  there  fruits,  such  as  grapes,  figs,  peaches, 
and  fresh  dates,  that  have  not  their  equal  in  the  world;  like¬ 
wise  |  the  melons  which  are  transported  to  her  have  none  to  305 
compare  with  them  for  flavour  and  sweetness.  The  flesh- 
meats  in  Mecca  are  fat  and  exceedingly  delicious  in  taste.  All 
the  commodities  that  are  dispersed  in  different  countries  find 
assembly  in  her.  Fruits  and  vegetables  are  carried  to  her  from 
al-Ta’if14  and  Wadi  Nakhla  and  the  Bottom  of  Marr,15 
through  a  bounteous  provision  of  God  for  the  dwellers  in  His 
secure  sanctuary  and  the  sojourners  at  His  ancient  House. 

The  sacred  mosque  ( God  ennoble  and  sanctify  it).  The  Sacred 
Mosque  lies  in  the  midst  of  the  city  and  occupies  an  extensive 
area;  its  length  from  east  to  west  is  more  than  four  hundred 
cubits  (this  figure  is  given  by  al-Azraqi)16  and  its  breadth  is 
approximately  the  same.  The  most  venerable  Ka'ba  stands 
in  the  centre  of  it.  The  aspect  of  the  mosque  is  [so]  exquisite, 
its  outward  sight  [so]  beautiful  [that]  no  tongue  could  pre¬ 
sume  to  describe  its  attractions,  and  no  voice  of  description 
do  justice  to  the  charm  of  its  perfection.  |  The  height  of  its  306 
walls  is  about  twenty  cubits,  and  the  roof  [of  its  colonnades] 

12  From  which  the  ‘Umra  (Lesser  Pilgrimage)  is  made,  see  p.  235  below. 
Shubaika  was  the  name  of  the  wells  on  the  Tan'im  road. 

13  Qur’an,  xiv,  40:  ‘O  our  Lord,  verily  I  have  made  some  of  my  posterity 
to  dwell  in  a  valley  bare  of  corn,  round  about  Thy  sanctified  House,  O  our 
Lord,  that  they  may  steadfastly  observe  prayer;  make  therefore  hearts  of 
men  yearning  towards  them,  and  bestow  upon  them  a  provision  of  fruits, 
that  they  may  give  thanks.’ 

14  Ta’if,  in  the  highlands  called  al-Sarat  (see  p.  237,  n.  187  below),  lies 
seventy  miles  south  by  east  of  Mecca,  and  is  noted  for  its  fruit  gardens.  For 
a  modern  plan  and  description  see  Rutter,  Holy  Cities,  II,  chap.  11. 

16  Seep.  187,  n.  125. 

16  Author  of  a  History  of  Mecca,  died  c.  860.  This  was  after  the  enlargement 
of  the  sanctuary  by  the  ‘Abbasid  caliph  al-Mahdl  (in  777-83,  see  p.  193 
below)  to  its  present  size. 


o 


iqi 


T.O.I.B. 


192 


THE  SACRED  MOSQUE 

is  supported  by  tall  pillars,  arranged  in  a  triple  row,  of  most 
substantial  and  beautiful  construction.  Its  three  aisles  are 
arranged  on  a  marvellous  plan,  which  makes  them  appear  like 
a  single  aisle.  The  number  of  marble  pillars  which  it  contains 
is  490, 17  exclusive  of  the  plaster  pillars  which  are  in  the  Dar 
al-Nadwa18  annexed  to  the  sanctuary.  This  building  is  in¬ 
corporated  in  the  colonnade  running  [from  west]19  to  north, 
and  opposite  it  are  the  Maqam  [of  Ibrahim]  and  the  ‘Iraqi 
angle  [of  the  Ka‘ba];  its  court  is  contiguous  to  and  entered 
from  the  colonnade  mentioned.  Along  the  wall  of  this  colon¬ 
nade  is  a  series  of  small  platforms20  beneath  vaulted  arcades; 
these  are  occupied  by  teachers  of  the  Qur’an,  copyists  and 
tailors.  On  the  wall  of  the  parallel  colonnade  to  this  there  are 
platforms  resembling  these;  the  other  colonnades  have  at  the 
foot  of  their  walls  platforms  without  arcades.  By  the  Bab 
Ibrahim21  there  is  [another]  extension  from  the  [south-] 
western  colonnade,  in  which  there  are  plaster  columns.  |  The 
Caliph  al-Mahdl  Muhammad,  son  of  the  Caliph  Abu  Ja‘far 
al-Mansur  (God  be  pleased  with  both),  has  to  his  credit  a 
number  of  noble  activities  in  regard  to  the  extension  of  the 
Sacred  Mosque  and  the  perfection  of  its  construction,  and  on 
the  highest  part  of  the  wall  of  the  western  colonnade  is  an 
inscription:  ‘The  Servant  of  God  Muhammad  al-Mahdl, 
Commander  of  the  Faithful  (God  justify  him),  commanded 
the  enlargement  of  the  Sacred  Mosque  for  the  Pilgrims  to  the 
House  of  God  and  the  Visitors  thereto  in  the  year  One 
Hundred  and  Sixty-Seven.’22 

The  illustrious  and  venerable  Ka‘ba  (God  increase  it  in  venera- 

17  The  text  of  Ibn  Jubair  has  470  (70  and  90  are  frequently  confused  in 
Arabic  manuscripts) .  According  to  tradition  these  pillars  were  brought  from 
Ikhmim  in  Egypt  (see  p.  65,  n.  203). 

18  The  ancient  ‘Council-House’  of  the  Meccans,  which  had  fallen  into  ruin, 
was  reconstructed  as  an  annexe  to  the  north-west  gallery  of  the  sanctuary 
by  the  ‘Abbasid  caliph  al-Mu‘tadid  in  894;  Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  Le 
pelerinage  a  la  Mekke  (Paris,  1923),  151— 2. 

19  Addition  from  Ibn  Jubair.  The  Ka'ba,  and  in  consequence  the  whole 
sanctuary,  is  oriented  in  such  a  way  that  the  angles  of  both  buildings  face 
the  cardinal  points. 

20  Or  stone  benches  ( mastaba  in  the  singular) . 

21  For  the  gates  of  the  Sanctuary  see  pp.  201-2  below. 

22  Reading  wa'ummdrihi  in  place  of  waimaratihi  (‘and  its  construction'). 
Al-Mahdl,  the  third  ‘Abbasid  caliph  of  Baghdad,  reigned  775-85;  a.h. 
167  is  a.d.  783-4. 


307 


193 


MECCA 


tion  and  honour).  The  Ka'ba  stands  out  in  the  middle  of  the 
Mosque — a  square-shaped  building,  whose  height  is  on  three 
sides  twenty-eight  cubits  and  on  the  fourth  side,  that  between 
the  Black  Stone  and  the  Yamanite  angle,  twenty-nine  cubits.23 
The  breadth  of  that  side  of  it  which  extends  from  the  ‘Iraqi 

308  angle  to  the  Black  Stone  is  fifty-four  |  spans,  and  so  also 
is  the  breadth  of  the  side  which  runs  parallel  to  it,  from 
the  Yamanite  angle  to  the  Syrian  angle;  the  breadth  of  that 
side  of  it  which  extends  from  the  ‘Iraqi  angle  to  the  Syrian 
angle,  within  the  Hijr,24  is  forty-eight  spans,  and  so  also  is  the 
breadth  of  the  side  parallel  to  it,  [from  the  Yamanite  angle  to 
the  Black  Stone,  the  same  as  that]  from  the  Syrian  angle  to 
the  ‘Iraqi  angle;  but  measured  round  the  outside  of  the  Hijr25 
the  length  of  this  side  is  a  hundred  and  twenty  spans,  and  the 
circuit  is  always  made  outside  the  Hijr.  It  is  constructed  of 
hard  brown  stones  cemented  together  in  the  most  admirable, 
substantial,  and  solid  manner,  so  that  the  days  may  not 
change  it  nor  long  ages  affect  it. 

The  door  of  the  venerable  Ka‘ba  is  in  the  side  which  is 
between  the  Black  Stone  and  the  ‘Iraqi  angle.  Between  it  and 
the  Black  Stone  is  [a  space  of]  ten  spans,  and  that  place  is  the 
so-called  Multazam  where  prayers  are  answered.  The  height 

309  of  the  door  [sill]  above  |  the  ground  is  eleven  and  a  half  spans 
and  the  breadth  of  the  wall  in  which  it  is  set  is  five  spans. 
The  door  is  covered  with  plates  of  silver  exquisitely  fabri¬ 
cated,  and  both  its  jambs  and  its  lintel  also  are  plated  with 
silver.26  It  has  two  great  rings  made  of  silver,  through  which 
passes  a  bolt. 

The  Holy  Door  is  opened  every  Friday  after  the  [midday] 
prayer  and  it  is  opened  also  on  the  anniversary  of  the  birthday 
of  the  Prophet27  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace).  The  cere- 

23  Ibn  Jubair  adds:  ‘in  order  to  cant  the  roof  towards  the  spout’;  see  p.  196 
below.  For  a  modern  description  of  the  Ka'ba  see  Rutter,  Holy  Cities,  I, 
chap.  xv. 

24  See  p.  199  below. 

25  The  text  has  been  corrected  from  Ibn  J  ubair  and  the  MSS  read¬ 
ings.  The  Black  Stone  is  at  the  eastern  angle  of  the  Ka'ba,  the  ‘Iraqi, 
Syrian  and  Yamanite  angles  at  the  north,  west,  and  south  angles 
respectively. 

26  The  bar  of  gold  above  the  lintel,  mentioned  by  Ibn  Jubair,  seems  to 
have  disappeared  in  the  interval. 

27  Traditionally  observed  on  the  12th  of  the  month  of  First  Rabl‘.  In  Ibn 

I94 


mony  which  they  use  in  opening  it  is  as  follows.  They  bring 
up  a  bench  resembling  a  mimbar,  which  has  steps  and  wooden 
legs  with  four  rollers  upon  which  the  bench  runs,  and  place  it 
against  the  wall  of  the  illustrious  Ka'ba  so  that  its  top  step 
adjoins  the  holy  threshold.  When  this  is  done,  the  chief  of  the 
Shaibls28  mounts  the  steps,  carrying  in  his  hand  the  holy  key, 
and  accompanied  by  the  doorkeepers.  The  latter  take  hold  of 
[and  draw  aside]  the  curtain  which  is  hung  over  the  door  of 
the  Ka‘ba  and  is  known  by  the  name  of  the  Veil  [< al-Burqu ‘), 
while  their  chief  opens  |  the  door.  When  he  opens  it,  he  kisses  3io 
the  illustrious  threshold,  enters  the  House  alone,  closes  the 
door,  and  remains  there  as  long  as  he  requires  to  make  a 
prayer  of  two  bowings.  Then  the  rest  of  the  Shaibls  enter, 
close  the  door  also,  and  make  their  prayers.  After  this  the 
door  is  opened,  and  the  people  rush  to  gain  admission.  During 
the  preliminaries  they  stand  facing  the  holy  door  with  down¬ 
cast  eyes  and  hands  outstretched  to  God  Most  High,  and 
when  it  is  opened  they  shout  the  Takhir 29  and  cry  ‘O  God, 
open  unto  us  the  gates  of  Thy  mercy  and  Thy  forgiveness,  O 
most  Merciful  of  the  merciful’. 

The  interior  of  the  illustrious  Ka'ba  is  paved  with  marble 
inlaid  with  arabesques30  and  its  walls  have  a  similar  facing.  It 
has  three  tall  pillars,  exceedingly  high  and  made  of  teak;  be¬ 
tween  each  pillar  and  the  next  is  a  distance  of  four  paces,  and 
they  stand  [lengthwise]  in  the  middle  of  the  space  inside  the 
illustrious  Ka‘ba,  |  the  central  one  being  opposite  to  the  mid-  3u 
point  of  the  side  between  the  [Yamanite]31  and  Syrian  angles. 
The  hangings  of  the  illustrious  Ka'ba  are  of  black  silk,  with 
inscriptions  in  white;32  they  gleam  upon  its  walls  with  light 
and  brilliance  and  clothe  it  entirely  from  the  top  to  the 
ground. 

Jubair’s  time  the  door  was  opened  every  Tuesday  and  Friday  from  sunrise 
and  every  day  in  the  month  of  Rajab. 

28  The  guardianship  of  the  Ka'ba  ( sidana )  was  confirmed  by  Muhammad 
to  the  family  of  Shaiba,  of  the  Quraish  clan  of  ‘  Abd  al-Dar. 

29  Allahu  akbar. 

30  The  term  mujazza '  apparently  means  ‘white  marble  inlaid  with  patterns 
in  marble  of  different  colours’. 

31  The  text  reads  ‘Iraqi,  an  error  due  to  a  misreading  of  the  corresponding 
passage  in  Ibn  Jubair. 

32  In  Ibn  Jubair’s  time  they  were  mostly  green  with  inscriptions  in  red  or 
other  contrasting  colours. 


i95 


MECCA 


One  of  the  marvellous  ‘signs’33  in  connexion  with  the  holy 
Ka‘ba  is  this:  its  door  is  opened  at  a  time  when  the  sanctuary 
is  choked  with  a  multitude  of  peoples  whom  none  can  number 
save  God,  who  hath  created  them  and  sustained  them,  yet 
they  enter  it — the  whole  body  oh  them — and  it  is  not  too 
narrow  to  contain  them.  Another  of  its  marvels  is  that  it  is 
never  at  any  time,  whether  by  night  or  day,  without  some 
worshipper  engaged  in  making  the  circuit,  and  none  has  ever 
reported  that  he  has  seen  it  at  any  time  without  worshippers. 
Yet  another  marvel  is  this:  that  the  pigeons  of  Mecca,  in  spite 
of  their  number,  and  the  other  kinds  of  birds  as  well,  do  not 
alight  upon  it,  nor  do  they  pass  over  it  in  their  flight.  You  can 
see  the  pigeons  flying  over  the  whole  sanctuary,  but  when 

312  they  come  level  with  the  illustrious  Ka‘ba  |  they  deflect  their 
course  from  it  to  one  side,  and  do  not  pass  over  it.  It  is  said 
that  no  bird  ever  alights  on  it  unless  it  be  suffering  from  some 
disease,  and  in  that  case  it  either  dies  on  the  instant  or  is 
healed  of  its  disease — magnified  be  He  who  hath  distinguished 
it  by  nobility  and  holiness  and  hath  clothed  it  with  respect 
and  veneration. 

The  blessed  waterspout.  The  spout  is  at  the  top  of  the  side 
which  is  by  the  Hijr.  It  is  of  gold,  a  single  span  in  breadth, 
and  protrudes  two  cubits.  The  place  underneath  the  spout  is 
held  to  be  one  where  prayers  made  in  it  will  be  answered.  The 
site  underneath  the  spout  and  in  the  Hijr  is  the  grave  of 
Isma/Il  (upon  him  be  peace).34  It  is  marked  by  an  elongated 
slab  of  green  marble  in  the  shape  of  a  mihrdb  in  conjunction 
with  a  circular  slab  of  green  marble,  both  about  a  span  and  a 
half  in  breadth,  and  both  of  singular  shape  and  attractive 

313  appearance.  Beside  it,  towards  the  ‘Iraqi  angle,  |  is  the  grave 
of  his  mother  Hajar  (upon  her  be  peace),  the  mark  of  which 
is  a  circular  slab  of  green  marble,  a  span  and  a  half  in  breadth. 
Between  the  two  graves  is  the  space  of  seven  spans. 

The  Black  Stone.  As  for  the  Stone,  its  height  above  the 
ground  is  six  spans,  so  that  a  tall  man  has  to  bend  down  in 

33  Ay  at,  the  term  employed  in  the  Qur’an  to  indicate  the  wondrous  events 
which  serve  as  evidences  of  the  existence  and  power  of  God,  hence  often 
used  in  the  sense  of  ‘miracles,  marvels’. 

34  For  the  association  of  Ishmael  with  Mecca  see  p.  189,  n.  5.  He  is  said 
to  have  married  the  daughter  of  the  chief  of  Jurhum,  the  tribe  which 
possessed  Mecca  before  Quraish. 


196 


THE  BLACK  STONE 

order  to  kiss  it  and  a  small  man  has  to  stretch  himself  up  to 
reach  it.  It  is  set  in  the  angle  which  points  to  the  east,  two- 
thirds  of  a  span  broad  and  a  span  in  length,  and  is  soldered  in. 

No  one  knows  the  dimension  of  that  side  of  it  which  is  en¬ 
closed  in  the  angle.  It  includes  four  fragments  stuck  together; 
the  [usual]  story  is  that  the  Qarmatl  (God  curse  him)  broke 
it,35  but  it  has  been  said  that  the  man  who  broke  it  was 
another  person,  who  struck  it  with  a  club  and  smashed  it. 
The  people  present  at  the  time  rushed  up  to  kill  him,  and  a 
number  of  Maghribines  were  killed  on  account  of  his  action. 
The  edges  of  the  Stone  are  bound  |  by  a  rim  of  silver,  whose  314 
whiteness  gleams  against  the  black  mass  of  the  holy  Stone,  so 
that  all  eyes  see  in  it  an  overpowering  beauty.  The  kissing  of 
the  Stone  gives  a  [sensation  of]  pleasure36  which  is  peculiarly 
agreeable  to  the  mouth,  and  as  one  places  his  lips  against  it  he 
would  fain  not  withdraw  them  from  its  embrace,  by  virtue  of 
a  special  quality  reposed  in  it  and  a  divine  favour  accorded  to 
it.  What  more  is  required  [to  prove  its  sublimity]  than  that 
the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  said  that 
it  is  the  Right  Hand  of  God  upon  His  earth?37 — God  profit  us 
by  our  kissing  it  and  touching  it,  and  bring  to  it  all  who  yearn 
for  it.  In  the  unbroken  portion  of  the  Black  Stone,  near  the 
edge  of  it  which  is  to  the  right  as  one  kisses  it,  is  a  small  and 
glittering  white  spot,  as  if  it  were  a  mole  on  that  glorious 
surface.  You  can  see  the  pilgrims,  as  they  make  their  circuits 
of  the  Ka'ba,  falling  one  upon  the  other  in  the  press  to  kiss  it, 
and  it  is  seldom  that  one  succeeds  in  doing  so  except  after 
vigorous  jostling.  They  do  just  the  same  when  they  are 
entering  the  Holy  House.  |  It  is  from  beside  the  Black  Stone  315 
that  the  beginning  of  the  circuit  is  made  and  it  is  the  first  of 
the  angles  that  the  circuiter  comes  to.  When  he  kisses  the 
Stone,  he  steps  back  from  it  a  little  way,  keeps  the  illustrious 

35  In  a.d.  929,  the  Qaramita  or  ‘Carmathians’  (a  revolutionary  IsmaTH 
group  who  had  established  themselves  in  al-Hasa)  seized  Mecca  in  an  expedi¬ 
tion  commanded  by  Abu  Tahir  (‘the  Qarmatl’)  and  carried  off  the  Black 
Stone,  but  restored  it  in  950.  The  second  version  appears  to  be  later  than  the 
time  of  Ibn  Jubair;  see  also  below,  p.  235,  n.  179. 

36  In  Ibn  Jubair,  ‘smoothness’. 

37  I.e.  that  kissing  or  touching  it  establishes  a  mystical  contact  with  the 
Hand  of  God.  This  appears  to  be  an  Islamic  modification  of  the  ancient 
stone-worship  of  Arabia,  which  gave  rise  to  several  legends  around  the 
Black  Stone  (see  Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  Lepelerinage,  42-8). 

197 


MECCA 


Ka‘ba  on  his  left  side,  and  proceeds  on  his  circuit.  He  comes 
next,  after  the  Stone,  to  the  ‘Iraqi  angle,  which  faces  to  the 
north;  then  he  comes  to  the  Syrian  angle,  which  faces  to  the 
west;  then  to  the  Yamanite  angle  which  faces  to  the  south; 
and  so  returns  to  the  Black  Stone,  which  faces  to  the  East.38 

The  holy  Maqam .39  You  should  know  that  between  the  door 
of  the  Ka‘ba  (God  ennoble  it)  and  the  ‘Iraqi  angle  there  is  a 
place,  twelve  spans  in  length  and  about  half  as  much  in 
breadth,  and  about  two  spans  high.  This  was  the  site  of  the 
Station  in  the  time  of  Ibrahim  (upon  him  be  peace);  subse¬ 
quently  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  removed 
it  to  its  [present]  position,  which  is  nowadays  a  place  of 
worship.  The  original  position  remained  [with  the  empty 
socket]  something  like  a  watering-tank,  and  it  is  into  it  that 
the  water  from  the  Holy  House  is  poured  when  it  is  washed 
316  out.  This  is  a  blessed  site,  |  for  [the  privilege  of]  praying  in 
which  there  is  much  scrambling  among  the  pilgrims.  The 
[present]  location  of  the  Holy  Station  is  opposite  [the  wall  of 
the  Ka‘ba]  between  the  ‘Iraqi  angle  and  the  Holy  Door,  and 
rather  nearer  to  the  Door.  It  is  surmounted  by  a  cupola, 
underneath  which  is  an  iron  grille  placed  at  such  a  distance 
from  the  Holy  Station  that  a  man’s  finger,  when  he  thrusts 
his  hand  through  the  grille,  can  just  reach  the  chest  [con¬ 
taining  the  sacred  stone]  when  the  grille  is  locked.  Behind  the 
Station  is  a  fenced-off40  area,  which  is  used  as  a  place  in 
which  to  pray  the  two  bowings  after  the  circuit  of  the  Ka‘ba. 
[It  is  related  in  the  canonical  Traditions  contained]  in  the 
Sahih 41  that  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace)  on  entering  the  mosque  [after  the  capture  of  Mecca] 
came  to  the  House  and  made  a  sevenfold  circuit  of  it,  then 
came  to  the  Station  and  after  reciting  [from  the  Holy 

38  The  sevenfold  circuit  or  circumambulation  ( tawaf )  of  the  Ka'ba  is  a 
part  of  both  the  Greater  and  Lesser  Pilgrimages,  but  is  also  observed  as  a 
separate  rite  by  all  visitors  to  Mecca  and  by  the  Meccans  (see  Gaudefroy- 
Demombynes,  op.  cit.  part  II,  chap.  IV).  The  circuits  are  completed  by  a 
prayer  of  two  ‘bowings’,  as  noted  below. 

39  Maqam,  literally  ‘standing-place,  station’,  means  here  a  large  stone 
used  for  standing  on.  This  stone  is  regarded  as  having  been  used  by  Abraham 
in  building  the  Ka'ba.  For  its  history  see  Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  op.  cit. 
102-9. 

40  Reading  mahjuz. 

41 1.e.  of  al-Bukhari  (see  above,  p.  154,  n.  319). 

198 


THE  MAQAM  AND  THE  HIJR 

Qur’an]  Take  the  Station  of  Ibrahim  for  a  place  of  prayer’42 
prayed  two  bowings  behind  it.  Behind  the  Station  is  the 
position  where  the  imam  of  the  Shafbis  stands  during  prayers, 
in  the  enclosure  which  is  at  that  place.  | 

The  Hijr  and  the  circuiting  pavement.  The  circumference  of  317 
the  enclosing  wall  of  the  Hijr*3  measures  twenty-nine  paces, 
that  is  to  say  ninety-four  spans,  in  the  interior  of  the  segment. 
The  wall  itself  is  made  of  exquisite  marble,  arabesqued,  and 
artistically  put  together;  it  is  five  and  a  half  spans  high,  and 
four  and  a  half  spans  broad.  Within  the  Hijr  is  a  broad  pave¬ 
ment,  flagged  with  [blocks  of]  marble  arabesqued,  [the  pieces 
of  which  are]  arranged  in  order  with  inimitable  skill  and 
brilliant  execution.  Between  the  wall  of  the  illustrious  Ka'ba 
underneath  the  spout  and  the  opposite  part  of  the  wall  of  the 
Hijr  is  at  right  angles  a  space  of  forty  spans.  The  Hijr  has 
two  entrances,  one  between  [the  end  of]  its  [wall]  and  the 
‘Iraqi  angle  [of  the  Ka‘ba],  six  cubits  in  breadth — this  space 
being  the  part  of  the  House  which  the  Quraish  left  outside 
when  they  built  the  Ka'ba,  as  is  related  in  the  authentic 
Traditions;  the  other  entrance  is  at  the  Syrian  angle  and  is 
also  six  cubits  in  breadth.  The  distance  between  the  two 
entrances  is  forty-eight  spans.  |  The  place  of  circuit  is  paved  318 
with  black  stones  so  [laid  and]  jointed  as  to  form  a  solid 
pavement.  It  extends  outward  to  a  breadth  of  nine  paces 
from  the  House,  except  at  the  side  which  faces  the  Holy 
Station,  where  it  widens  out  to  include  it  as  well.  The  rest  of 
the  Sanctuary,  including  the  colonnades,  is  covered  with 
white  sand.  The  place  of  circuit  of  the  women  is  at  the  outer 
edge  of  the  pavement. 

The  blessed  Zamzam**  The  pavilion  of  the  well  of  Zamzam 
stands  opposite  the  Black  Stone  and  at  a  distance  of  twenty- 

42  Sura  ii,  125. 

43  The  Hijr  or  ‘Enclosure’  (called  also  Hatim)  is  a  space  on  the  north  side 
of  the  Ka'ba  enclosed  by  a  low  semicircular  wall,  which  formed  part  of 
the  ancient  pre-Islamic  temple  (see  below,  p.  236,  n.  181  and  Gaudefroy- 
Demombynes,  op.  cit.  35-7). 

44  See  p.  188,  n.  3.  Muslim  tradition  asserts  that  the  well  of  Zamzam 
was  opened  by  the  angel  Gabriel  to  quench  the  thirst  of  Hagar  and  Ishmael, 
and  that,  after  being  filled  in,  it  was  reopened  by  Muhammad’s  grandfather, 
‘Abd  al-Muttalib,  whose  descendants  in  the  house  of  al-‘Abbas  preserved 
the  privilege  of  ‘watering’  the  pilgrims  ( siqaya ):  see  Gaudefroy-Demombynes, 
op.  cit.  71-96. 


199 


MECCA 


four  paces  from  it.  The  holy  Station  is  to  the  right  of  the 
pavilion,  and  from  the  corner  of  the  latter  to  it  is  a  distance  of 
ten  paces.  The  interior  of  the  pavilion  is  paved  with  white 
marble,  and  the  mouth  of  the  blessed  well  is  in  the  centre  of  it, 
a  little  closer  to  the  wall  which  faces  the  illustrious  Ka‘ba. 
The  [breastwork  of  the]  mouth  of  the  well  is  made  of  marble, 
exceedingly  skilfully  joined  and  cemented  with  molten  lead; 

319  its  circumference  is  forty  |  spans  and  its  height  four  and  a  half 
spans.  The  depth  of  the  well  is  eleven  fathoms,  and  they  say 
that  the  water  in  it  increases  in  volume  on  the  eve  of  each 
Friday.  The  door  of  the  pavilion  faces  east.  In  the  interior  of 
the  pavilion  there  is  a  circular  channel,  a  span  in  depth  and 
the  same  in  breadth,  and  at  a  height  of  about  five  spans  from 
the  ground.  This  is  filled  with  water  for  ritual  ablutions,  and 
round  its  circumference  there  is  a  circular  bench,  upon  which 
the  people  sit  to  make  them.  Close  by  the  pavilion  of  Zamzam 
is  the  pavilion  of  the  Drinking  Water,  which  is  attributed  to 
al-' Abbas  (God  be  pleased  with  him).  Its  doorway  faces  the 
north.  It  is  used  nowadays  for  keeping  Zamzam  water  in  jars 
which  they  call  [in  the  singular]  dawraq,  each  one  of  which 
has  a  single  lug:45  they  are  left  in  this  pavilion  so  that  the 
water  may  be  cooled  there  and  afterwards  drunk  by  the 
people.  In  it  are  stored  also  the  copies  of  the  Holy  Qur’an  and 
other  books  belonging  to  the  illustrious  sanctuary,  and  it  has 

320  a  small  store-room  |  containing  a  very  broad  and  wide  chest 
in  which  is  a  copy  of  the  Holy  Qur’an  in  the  hand  of  Zaid  b. 
Thabit46  (God  be  pleased  with  him),  transcribed  in  the  year 
eighteen  after  the  death  of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and 
give  him  peace).  The  people  of  Mecca,47  when  they  are  afflicted 
by  a  famine  or  other  hardship,  fetch  out  this  holy  volume, 
open  the  door  of  the  illustrious  Ka'ba,  and  lay  it  upon  the 
illustrious  threshold  together  with  the  Station  of  Ibrahim 
(upon  him  be  peace).  The  populace  assemble  with  uncovered 

45  A  narrow-necked  jar,  usually  with  a  loop-shaped  handle. 

46  The  chief  secretary  of  Muhammad,  who  was  also  chief  redactor  in  the 
commission  appointed  by  the  caliph  ‘Othman  to  draw  up  the  official  text  of 
the  Qur’an  (see  p.  127,  n.  214).  This  edition  was,  however,  based  on  an  earlier 
collection  of  materials  made  by  the  same  Zaid  in  the  caliphate  of  ‘Omar 
(a.h.  13-23  =a.d.  634-44). 

47  Ibn  Jubair  says  ‘I  was  told  by  the  keeper  of  the  pavilion  that  the  people 
of  Mecca’,  etc. 


200 


THE  WELL  OF  ZAMZAM 


heads,  praying  and  humbling  themselves,  and  seeking  to 
move  the  divine  favour  by  means  of  the  noble  Book  and 
gracious  Station,  and  before  ever  they  leave  the  place  God 
relieves  them  with  His  mercy  and  covers  them  with  His 
goodness.  Adjoining  the  pavilion  of  al-‘ Abbas  (God  be  pleased 
with  him)  and  in  echelon  with  it  is  the  pavilion  known  as  the 
pavilion  of  the  Jewish  woman.48 1 

The  gates  of  the  sacred  mosque  and  the  illustrious  sanctuaries  321 
which  surround  it ,49  The  Gates  of  the  Sacred  Mosque  (God 
Most  High  ennoble  it)  are  nineteen  in  number,  most  of  them 
pierced  with  several  openings.  These  are:  (1)  Gate  of  al- 
Safa,50  pierced  with  five  openings;  it  was  formerly  known  as 
the  Gate  of  the  Banu  Makhzum,  and  is  the  largest  of  the  gates 
of  the  Mosque.  It  forms  the  exit  to  the  Mas1  a  [between 
al-Safa  and  Marwa].  The  visitor  who  arrives  in  Mecca  prefers 
to  make  his  entrance  into  the  Sacred  Mosque  (God  ennoble  it) 
through  the  Gate  of  the  Banu  Shaiba,  and  to  go  out,  after 
completing  his  circuits,  through  the  Gate  of  al-Safa,  making 
his  way  between  the  two  columns  which  the  Commander  of 
the  Faithful  al-Mahdi  (God’s  mercy  upon  him)  set  up  To  mark 
the  road  taken  by  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give 
him  peace)  to  al-Safa’.51  (2)  Gate  of  Lesser  Ajyad,  pierced 
with  two  openings;52  (3)  Gate  of  the  Tailors,  pierced  with  | 
two  openings;53  (4)  Gate  of  al-‘Abbas  (God  be  pleased  with  322 
him)  pierced  with  three  openings;  (5)  Gate  of  the  Prophet 
(God  bless  and  give  him  peace),  pierced  with  two  openings;54 

48  I.e.  the  right  corner  of  the  east  side  of  the  latter  adjoining  the  left 
corner  of  the  west  side  of  the  pavilion  of  al-‘ Abbas,  as  Ibn  Jubair  explains; 
he  also  adds  that  the  ‘pavilion  of  the  J  ewish  woman’  (the  origin  of  the  name 
is  not  known)  was  used  for  storing  the  lamps  and  other  furnishings  of  the 
sanctuary. 

49  On  the  gates  of  the  sanctuary  and  the  many  changes  in  their  number 
and  names  see  Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  op.  cit.  13 1  ff,  and  for  a  modern 
description,  Rutter,  Holy  Cities,  I,  chap.  xvn. 

60  In  the  eastern  portion  of  the  south-east  colonnade.  For  the  mas' a  see 
below,  p.  205.  The  old  name  recalls  the  pre-Islamic  sanctuary,  when  each  of 
the  Meccan  clans  had  its  own  entrance. 

61  The  phrase  in  inverted  commas  is  taken  from  the  inscription  of  al-Mahdi 
(see  p.  193,  n.  22  above),  as  quoted  by  Ibn  Jubair. 

62  In  the  south-east  colonnade,  to  the  east  of  Bab  al-Safa,  called  after  the 
ravine  mentioned  above,  p.  190,  now  called  ‘Mule  Gate’. 

63  Also  in  the  south-east  colonnade,  probably  that  now  called  Bab  Bazan. 

64  Both  in  the  middle  part  of  the  north-east  colonnade.  The  latter  is  also 
called  ‘Gate  of  the  Silk-Merchants’. 


201 


MECCA 


(6)  Gate  of  the  Banu  Shaiba,55  at  the  northern  angle  of 
the  east  wall  [of  the  Mosque],  facing  the  door  of  the  illus¬ 
trious  Ka'ba  [obliquely]  in  a  left-hand  direction,  and  pierced 
with  three  openings.  This  was  the  Gate  of  the  Banu  ‘Abd 
Shams,  and  by  it  the  Caliphs  used  to  enter;56  a  small  gate  op¬ 
posite  the  Gate  of  the  Banu  Shaiba,  unnamed,  or,  according 
to  another  account,  named  Gate  of  the  Convent,  because 
it  gives  entrance  to  the  Convent  of  the  Lote-tree;57  (8,  9, 
10)  Gate  of  the  Council,  a  name  given  to  three  [different] 
gates,  two  which  are  next  one  another,  and  the  third  in  the 
western  angle  of  the  Council  House.  The  Council  House  itself 
has  become  a  mosque  opening  into  and  annexed  to  the  main 
sanctuary,  in  face  of  the  Spout;58  (11)  a  small  gate  leading  to 
323  the  Dar  |  al-‘Ajala,  of  recent  construction;59  (12)  Gate  of  the 
Lote-tree,  a  single  opening;60  (13)  Gate  of  the  'Umra,61  a  single 
opening,  and  one  of  the  most  beautiful  gateways  in  the  Sanc¬ 
tuary;  (14)  Gate  of  Ibrahim,  a  single  opening;62  the  authorities 
are  at  variance  as  to  the  person  after  whom  it  is  named,  for 
some  of  them  attribute  it  to  Ibrahim  al-Khalll  (upon  him  be 
peace),  but  the  truth  is  that  it  is  called  after  Ibrahim  al- 
Khuzl,  a  man  of  the  Persians;  (15)  Gate  of  al-Hazura,63 
pierced  with  two  openings;  (16)  Gate  of  Greater  Ajyad, 
pierced  with  two  openings;64  (17,  18)  a  gate  called  also  by  the 
name  of  Ajyad,  pierced  with  two  openings,  and  a  third  gate 
called  by  the  same  name,  pierced  with  two  openings  and 
adjacent  to  the  Gate  of  al-Safa.  There  are  some  who  give  to 

65  Usually  called  ‘Gate  of  Peace’  {Bab  al-Salam),  the  name  ‘Gate  of  the 
Banu  Shaiba’  being  given  to  an  arcade  adjacent  to  the  well  of  Zamzam. 

66  ‘Abd  Shams  was  the  clan  to  which  the  Umayyad  caliphs  belonged. 

67  Probably  that  now  called  Bab  al-Madrasa. 

68  See  above,  p.  193,  n.  18. 

69  The  Dar  al-‘Ajala  was  a  building  constructed  on  the  north  side  of  the 
sanctuary  in  the  first  century  of  the  Hijra;  the  origin  of  the  name  is  unknown 
(Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  Le  pelerinage,  149).  The  gate  was  ‘of  recent  con¬ 
struction’  (or  rather  reopened)  in  Ibn  Jubair’s  time. 

60  Sidra,  ‘lote-tree’,  may  be  a  copyist’s  error  for  Sadda,  ‘closure’,  mentioned 
in  other  sources  (see  Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  op.  cit.  148),  also  called  Bab 
al-'Atlq,  ‘The  Ancient  Gate’,  in  the  north-west  colonnade. 

61  At  the  western  angle,  so  called  because  pilgrims  at  the  Lesser  Pilgrimage 
(‘ umra )  went  out  by  it  to  Tan'im  (see  p.  235  below). 

62  In  the  centre  of  the  south-west  colonnade. 

63  Also  in  the  south-west  colonnade,  to  the  north  of  the  Bab  Ibrahim. 

64  As  appears  from  the  next  paragraph,  this  is  the  gate  at  the  southern 
angle,  usually  called  ‘Gate  of  Farewell’  (Bab  al-Wida‘). 

202 


GATES  OF  THE  MOSQUE 

the  two  [latter]  of  these  four  gates  called  after  Ajyad  the 
name  of  the  [Gates  of  the]  Flour-merchants.65 

The  minarets  of  the  Sacred  Mosque  are  five  in  number:66 
one  |  over  the  angle  of  Abu  Qubais,  near  the  Gate  of  al-Safa;  324 
the  second  over  the  angle  of  the  Gate  of  the  Banu  Shaiba;  the 
third  over  the  Gate  of  the  Council-House;  the  fourth  over  the 
angle  of  the  Gate  of  the  Lote-tree;  and  the  fifth  over  the  angle 
of  Ajyad. 

Close  to  the  Gate  of  the  ‘Umra  is  a  college  which  was 
founded  by  the  exalted  Sultan  Yusuf  b.  Rasul,  king  of  the 
Yaman,  known  as  al-Malik  al-Muzaffar,67  from  whom  the 
muzaffari  dirhams  in  the  Yaman  take  their  name.  He  used 
also  to  furnish  the  curtain  of  the  Ka‘ba  until  al-Malik  al- 
Mansur  Qala/un  deprived  him  of  the  privilege.68 

Outside  the  Gate  of  Ibrahim  there  is  a  large  hospice,  within 
which  is  the  house  of  the  imam  of  the  Malikites,  the  pious 
Abu  ‘Abdallah  Muhammad  b.  ‘Abd  al-Rahman,  known  as 
Khalil.69  Over  the  Gate  of  Ibrahim  there  is  a  vast  dome  of 
exceeding  height,  in  the  interior  of  which  have  been  executed 
marvellous  designs  in  plasterwork  that  baffle  description.  In 
face  of  this  gate,  to  |  the  right  as  one  enters  it,  used  to  sit  the  325 
shaikh  and  devotee  Jalal  al-Din  Muhammad  b.  Ahmad  of 
Aqshahr.70  Outside  the  Gate  of  Ibrahim  is  a  well  which  is 

65  Two  gates  in  the  western  part  of  the  south-east  colonnade,  to  which 
various  names  are  given  (see  Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  op.  cit.  14 1-2).  The 
nineteenth  gate,  the  Gate  of  ‘All,  with  three  openings,  to  the  north  of  the 
eastern  angle,  has  been  omitted  in  error. 

66  Ibn  Battuta  departs  in  this  paragraph  from  Ibn  Jubair,  who  describes 
seven  minarets.  The  five  mentioned  here  are  at  the  eastern  and  northern 
angles,  in  the  middle  of  the  north-west  colonnade,  and  at  the  western  and 
southern  angles  respectively.  The  minaret  at  the  western  angle  is  over  the 
Gate  of  the  ‘Umra  (no.  13),  not  that  of  the  ‘Lote-Tree’. 

67  Yusuf  b.  ‘Omar,  reigned  1249-95,  son  and  successor  of  the  founder  of 
the  Rasulid  dynasty,  which  controlled  south-west  Arabia  as  far  north  as 
Mecca  until  the  mid-fifteenth  century.  The  name  of  the  dynasty  was  derived 
from  the  office  held  by  the  grandfather  of  the  founder  as  ambassador  ( rasul ) 
of  the  ‘Abbasid  caliph  in  Syria  and  Egypt. 

68  The  privilege  of  furnishing  the  curtain  ( kiswa ,  i.e.  ‘garment’)  with 
which  the  Ka‘ba  is  draped  (see  p.  247  below)  was  regarded  as  a  symbol  of 
political  suzerainty  over  Mecca,  and  therefore  much  disputed:  see  Gaudefroy- 
Demombynes,  ‘Le  voile  de  la  Ka'ba’,  in  Studia  Islamica,  II  (Paris,  1954), 
5-2i. 

69  The  biography  of  this  highly  reputed  scholar  is  accidentally  omitted 
from  the  Durar;  see  Ahmad  Baba,  Dhail  al-Dibaj  (Cairo  1329),  115. 

70  Muhammad  b.  Ahmad  b.  Amin  (1267-1331  or  later),  author  of  a  book 

203 


MECCA 


called  by  the  name  of  the  same  Ibrahim.  By  the  gate  also  is 
the  house  of  the  pious  shaikh  Daniyal  the  Persian,  by  whose 
hands  the  alms  sent  from  al-Traq  used  to  come  in  the  days  of 
the  Sultan  Abu  Sa‘Id.71  In  proximity  to  the  same  gate  is  the 
convent  of  al-Muwaffaq,  one  of  the  finest  of  its  kind,  in  which 
I  stayed  during  my  residence  in  Mecca  the  Great.  Living  in  it 
at  the  same  time  was  the  pious  shaikh  Abu  ‘Abdallah  al- 
Zuwawl,  from  the  Maghrib,  and  the  pious  shaikh  called  ‘the 
Flier’,  Sa‘ada  al-Jawwanl,  also  stayed  there.72  The  latter 
went  into  his  room  one  day  after  the  mid-afternoon  prayer, 
and  was  found  in  the  attitude  of  prostration,  with  his  face  to 
the  illustrious  Ka‘ba,  dead,  without  having  suffered  any 
illness  (God  be  pleased  with  him).  The  pious  shaikh  Shams 
al-Dln  Muhammad  al-Shami  lived  in  this  convent  for  about 
forty  years,  and  another  who  lived  there  was  the  pious 
326  shaikh  |  Shu‘aib  al-Maghribl,  one  of  the  most  notable  de¬ 
votees.73  I  visited  him  one  day,  and  I  could  see  nothing  in  his 
room  but  a  reed-mat.  I  expressed  my  astonishment  at  this  to 
him  but  he  said  to  me  ‘Keep  secret  what  you  have  seen  about 
me'. 

Round  the  illustrious  Sanctuary  there  are  many  houses 
with  belvederes  and  roof-terraces  from  which  access  is  given 
to  the  roof  of  the  Sanctuary,  and  whose  occupants  are  ever  in 
contemplation  of  the  illustrious  House.  There  are  also  houses 
with  doors  leading  into  the  Sanctuary,  amongst  them  the 
house  of  Zubaida,  wife  of  al-Rashld,  the  Commander  of  the 
Faithful,  the  house  [known  as]  al-‘Ajala,  the  house  of  al- 
Sharabl,  etc.74 

Amongst  the  holy  shrines  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Sacred 
Mosque  is  the  Dome  of  the  Revelation,  which  is  in  the  house 


of  travels  ( Durar ,  III,  309).  From  the  considerable  number  of  scholars  and 
devotees  from  Aqshahr  (in  Central  Anatolia)  mentioned  in  this  century,  it 
seems  that  it  was  a  notable  centre  of  Islamic  life  at  this  time. 

71  The  last  of  the  line  of  Mongol  Ilkhans  of  Persia  and  ‘Iraq,  reigned 
1316-35.  His  history  is  related  by  Ibn  Battuta  in  vol.  II. 

72  The  former  is  called  ‘Abdallah  b.  Musa  b.  ‘Omar  (d.  1334)  by  Ibn  Hajar 
(Durar,  II,  307). 

73  Shu'aib  b.  Musa  b.  ‘Abd  al-Rahman  al-Muhammadl,  called  Abu 
Madyan,  a  noted  sufl  (Durar,  II,  194). 

74  The  house  of  Zubaida  was  adjacent  to  the  Gate  of  the  Tailors,  but  col¬ 
lapsed  in  884,  and  was  eventually  replaced  by  a  convent.  For  the  Dar 
al-‘Ajala  see  p.  202,  n.  59.  The  Dar  al-Sharabl  has  not  been  identified . 

204 


of  Khadlja,  the  Mother  of  the  Faithful75  (God  be  pleased 
with  her),  close  to  the  Gate  of  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and 
give  him  peace).  In  the  same  house  there  is  a  small  domed 
chamber,  where  Fatima  (peace  be  upon  her)  was  born.76  Not 
far  from  this  is  the  house  of  Abu  Bakr  |  al-Siddiq  (God  be  327 
pleased  with  him).  Facing  it  is  a  blessed  wall,  containing  a 
blessed  stone  whose  end  protrudes  from  the  face  of  the  wall 
and  which  is  kissed  by  visitors.  It  is  said  that  this  stone  used 
to  greet  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace),  and  the 
story  is  told  that  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace) 
came  one  day  to  the  house  of  Abu  Bakr  al-Siddiq  when  he 
was  not  at  home,  and  that  when  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and 
give  him  peace)  called  him  this  stone  spoke  and  said  ‘O 
Apostle  of  God,  he  is  not  at  home'. 

Al-Safa  and  al-Marwa.  From  the  Gate  of  al-Safa,  which  is 
one  of  the  gates  of  the  Sacred  Mosque,  to  al-Safa  itself  is 
seventy-six  paces;  the  breadth  of  al-Safa  is  seventeen  paces, 
and  it  has  fourteen  steps,  the  highest  of  which  is  a  sort  of 
platform.  From  al-Safa  to  al-Marwa  is  four  hundred  and 
ninety-three  paces,  made  up  as  follows:  from  al-Safa  to  the 
‘Green  Needle’,  ninety-three  paces;  from  |  the  ‘Green  Needle’  328 
to  the  ‘pair  of  Green  Needles’,  seventy-five  paces;  and  from 
the  ‘pair  of  Green  Needles’  to  al-Marwa,  three  hundred  and 
twenty-five  paces.  Al-Marwa  has  five  steps  and  a  single  wide 
arch;  the  breadth  of  al-Marwa  is  [also]  seventeen  paces.  The 
‘Green  Needle’  is  a  column  [painted]  green,  set  up  against  the 
corner  of  the  minaret  which  is  over  the  eastern  angle  of  the 
sanctuary,  on  the  left  hand  of  the  pilgrim  as  he  runs  to  al- 
Marwa.  The  ‘pair  of  Green  Needles’  are  two  green  columns  in 
line  with  the  Gate  of  ‘AIT,  one  of  the  gates  of  the  Sanctuary; 
one  of  them  is  in  the  wall  of  the  Sanctuary,  on  the  left  as  one 
issues  from  the  gate,  and  the  other  stands  opposite  it.  It  is 
between  the  ‘Green  Needle’  and  the  ‘pair  of  Green  Needles’ 
that  the  pilgrim  does  the  ‘trotting’,  both  going  and  coming.77 

75  The  first  wife  of  Muhammad,  died  about  619,  before  the  Prophet’s  hijra 
to  al-Madina;  cf.  p.  159  above. 

76  A  slip  by  Ibn  J  ubair  is  silently  corrected  here;  he  states  that  ‘in  it  also 
[Fatima]  gave  birth  to  al-Hasan  and  al-Husain’,  who  were  in  fact  born  in 
al-Madina. 

77  The  Sa'y  (trotting  or  running),  seven  times  in  all,  between  the  two 
points  indicated  south  of  the  sanctuary  is  one  of  the  rites  of  pilgrimage  per- 

205 


MECCA 


Between  al-Safa  and  al-Marwa  there  is  a  torrent-bed, 
occupied  by  an  immense  bazaar,  in  which  are  sold  grain  of 
various  kinds,  meat,  dates,  clarified  butter,  and  other 
varieties  of  fruits.  The  pilgrims  who  are  engaged  in  the  course 

329  between  al-Safa  |  and  al-Marwa  can  scarcely  get  clear  of  it 
owing  to  the  pressure  of  the  crowds  round  the  booths  of  the 
vendors.  There  is  at  Mecca  no  organized  market  beyond  this, 
except  the  cloth-merchants  and  druggists  at  the  Gate  of  the 
Banu  Shaiba. 

Between  al-Safa  and  al-Marwa  is  the  House  of  al-‘Abbas 
(God  be  pleased  with  him)  now  used  as  a  convent,  where 
those  who  come  for  a  period  of  residence  in  Mecca  are.lodged. 
Al-Malik  al-Nasir  (God’s  mercy  on  him)  restored  it,  and  built 
also  a  hall  of  ablutions  between  al-Safa  and  al-Marwa  in  the 
year  twenty-eight.  He  furnished  the  latter  with  two  doors, 
one  opening  on  the  bazaar  mentioned  above,  the  other  on  the 
druggists’  market.  In  its  upper  story  there  is  a  series  of 
separate  apartments,  where  its  attendants  live.  The  building 
of  this  hall  was  superintended  by  the  amir  ‘Ala  al-Dln  ibn 
Hilal.78  To  the  right  of  al-Marwa  is  the  house  of  the  amir  of 
Mecca,  Saif  al-Dln  ‘Utaifa  b.  Abl  Numayy,  of  whom  we  shall 
speak  later.79 1 

330  The  blessed  cemetery.  The  Cemetery  of  Mecca  lies  outside 
the  Ma‘la  gate  [of  the  city],  and  its  locality  is  known  also  as 
Hajun.80  This  is  the  place  referred  to  by  al-Harith  b.  Mudad 
al-Jurhuml81  in  the  following  verses: 

formed  immediately  after  the  circuit  of  the  Ka'ba,  and  said  to  be  in  com¬ 
memoration  of  Hagar’s  agitated  search  for  a  well,  but  probably  continuing 
an  ancient  pre-Islamic  rite  (cf.  Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  Le  pelerinage, 
225-34).  The  site  of  the  Say  was  removed  to  its  medieval  and  modern  em¬ 
placement  when  the  sanctuary  was  enlarged  in  780,  and  now  runs  past  the 
eastern  angle  of  the  Haram. 

78  ‘All  b.  Hilal  al-Dawla,  officer  in  charge  of  buildings  in  Egypt,  was 
deputed  by  al-Malik  al-Nasir  in  1328  to  carry  out  repairs  and  improvements 
at  Mecca,  and  for  this  ablution  hall  constructed  an  aqueduct  from  ‘Ain 
Thaqaba,  between  Jabal  Hiraand  Thabir  (see  p.  211).  He  died  in  his  fief  at 
Shaizar  (near  Hamah  in  Syria)  in  1338.  ( Durar ,  III,  136;  Zettersteen,  199.) 

79  See  p.  214  below. 

80  Al-Hajun  (‘the  twisting’)  is  the  name  given  to  the  small  valley  at  the 
upper  (northern)  end  of  the  town,  running  westwards  from  the  main  valley. 
The  cemetery,  called  al-Ma‘la  (‘the  upper  end’)  is  disposed  on  both  sides  of 
al-Hajun. 

81  These  verses  (together  with  three  more  lamenting  the  destruction  of  the 
ancient  Meccan  tribe  of  Jurhum — see  p.  196,  n.  34  above)  are  also  attri- 

206 


CEMETERY  OF  AL-MA‘LA 


From  Hajun  to  Safa  all  is  silent,  as  though 

Ne'er  its  evenings  were  livened  by  tale  and  debate. 

Ay,  but  we  were  its  folk  until  doomed  to  o'erthrow 
By  the  shifts  of  the  nights  and  the  stumblings  of  fate. 

In  this  cemetery  is  the  burial  place  of  a  vast  throng  of  the 
Companions  and  their  immediate  successors,  of  the  learned, 
the  pious,  and  the  saintly,  but  their  tombs  have  become 
effaced,  and  the  knowledge  of  them  has  been  lost  among  the 
inhabitants  of  Mecca,  so  that  none  but  a  few  of  them  are  now 
known.  Amongst  the  known  sites  is  the  grave  of  the  Mother  of 
the  Faithful  and  counsellor  of  the  Chief  of  the  Apostles, 
Khadija  daughter  |  of  Khuwailid,82  mother  of  every  one  of  the 
children  of  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  save 
only  Ibrahim,  and  grandmother  of  his  two  noble  grandsons 
[al-Hasan  and  al-Husain] — the  blessings  and  peace  of  God  be 
upon  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  and  upon 
them  all.  Near  by  it  is  the  tomb  of  the  Caliph,  the  Com¬ 
mander  of  the  Faithful,  Abu  Ja‘far  al-Mansur  ‘Abdallah  b. 
Muhammad  b.  ‘All  b.  ‘Abdallah  b.  al-‘Abbas83 — God  be 
pleased  with  them  all.  In  the  cemetery  also  is  the  place  where 
[the  body  of]  ‘Abdallah  b.  al-Zubair  (God  be  pleased  with  him 
and  with  his  father)  was  crucified.84  On  this  site  there  was 
formerly  a  building,  which  was  destroyed  by  the  men  of 
al-Ta/if  out  of  resentment  at  the  curses  which  were  hurled  at 
their  fellow  citizen,  al-Hajjaj  the  destroyer.85  On  the  right- 
hand  side  as  one  faces  the  cemetery  is  a  ruined  mosque,  said 

buted  to  his  father  Mudad  b.  ‘Amr  al-Jurhumi,  traditionally  represented  as 
the  chief  poet  of  the  tribe  ( Kitab  al-Aghani,  XIII,  107-12;  Yaqut,  s.v. 
al-Hajun). 

82  See  p.  205,  n.  75. 

83  The  second  ‘Abbasid  caliph  of  Baghdad,  reigned  754-75,  died  while  on 
pilgrimage  in  the  vicinity  of  Mecca. 

84  See  p.  179,  n.  85.  On  the  recapture  of  Mecca  by  the  Umayyad  troops 
under  the  command  of  al-Hajjaj  (see  the  following  note)  in  692,  after  a  battle 
in  which  ‘Abdallah  was  killed,  his  body  was  for  a  time  gibbeted  on  the  spot 
where  he  had  previously  exposed  his  own  brother’s  body  in  681. 

85  Al-Hajjaj,  subsequently  viceroy  of  ‘Iraq  and  the  East  (d.  714),  was  of 
the  tribe  of  Thaqlf,  the  inhabitants  of  Ta’if  (see  p.  191,  n.  14).  His  name 
became  a  symbol,  in  Shi’ite  and  anti-Umayyad  circles,  for  violence  and 
oppression,  as  in  the  tradition  here  referred  to:  ‘There  shall  come  forth  from 
Thaqlf  two  liars,  the  latter  of  whom  [i.e.  al-Hajjaj]  shall  be  more  evil  than 
the  former;  he  is  the  destroyer’.  The  tradition  is  quoted,  however  (e.g. 
Musnad  of  Ibn  Hanbal,  VI,  351,  352),  solely  on  the  authority  of  Asma, 
daughter  of  Abu  Bakr  and  mother  of  ‘Abdallah  b.  al-Zubair. 

P  207  T.O.I.B. 


33i 


MECCA 


to  be  the  mosque  in  which  the  jinn  gave  their  allegiance  to  the 
Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace).86  By  this 
cemetery  runs  the  road  which  is  taken  by  those  ascending  to 
'Arafat  and  those  going  to  al-Ta/if  and  to  al-'Iraq.  | 

332  Some  of  the  sanctuaries  outside  Mecca.  These  include: 
Al-Hajun,  which  we  have  already  mentioned;  it  is  also  stated 
that  al-Hajun  is  the  hill  which  overlooks  the  cemetery.87 
— Al-Muhassab,  which  is  the  same  as  al-Abtah,88  adjoining  the 
cemetery  mentioned  above;  in  this  place  is  the  declivity  of  the 
Banu  Kinana,  where  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give 
him  peace)  alighted.89 — Dhu  Tuwa,  a  valley  descending  to  the 
tombs  of  the  Emigrants,  which  are  at  al-Hashas,  below  the 
track  of  Kada/;  through  it  runs  the  road  out  to  the  pillars  set 
up  to  mark  the  boundary  between  the  profane  and  the  sacred 
territory.90  'Abdallah  b.  'Omar  (God  be  pleased  with  him) 
used  always,  on  coming  to  Mecca  (God  Most  High  ennoble 
her),  to  pass  the  night  in  Dhu  Tuwa,  and  after  making  a 
complete  ablution  there  go  on  to  Mecca  in  the  morning;  and 
it  is  stated  that  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace)  did  the  same. — The  track  of  Kuda91  in  the  upper  part  of 
Mecca;  it  was  by  it  that  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and 

333  give  him  peace)  entered  into  Mecca  |  on  the  Farewell  Pil¬ 
grimage. — The  track  of  Kada’,  also  called  the  White  Track,  at 
the  lower  end  of  Mecca;  by  it  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless 
and  give  him  peace)  departed  [from  Mecca]  in  the  year  of  the 
Farewell  [Pilgrimage].  It  lies  between  two  hills  and  in  its 
narrowest  part  there  is  a  heap  of  stones  set  upon  the  road; 

86  Allusion  to  an  episode  referred  to  in  the  Qur’an,  lxxii,  1-2:  ‘Say,  it  hath 
been  revealed  to  me  that  a  company  of  the  jinn  hearkened  and  said  “Verily 
we  have  heard  a  marvellous  Qur’an,  guiding  to  righteousness,  wherefore  we 
believe  in  it  and  we  will  not  associate  any  being  with  our  Lord”.’ 

87  See  p.  206,  n.  80.  The  hill  is  properly  called  Jabal  Kada’  (see  below, 
n.  91). 

88  The  northward  continuation  of  the  main  valley  (the  Batlha)  of  Mecca. 

89  On  Muhammad’s  occupation  of  Mecca  in  January  630  the  Muslim  forces 
advancing  from  Dhu  Tuwa  entered  the  city  at  four  points. 

90  I.e.  the  miqat  at  Tan'Im  (see  below,  n.  94).  Ibn  Jubair  and  Ibn  Battuta 
apparently  apply  the  name  Dhu  Tuwa  to  the  track  running  west  from  the 
Bab  al-‘Umra  (see  p.  202,  n.  61)  through  the  suburb  now  called  Jarwal. 

91  Ibn  Battuta  has  here  confused  Jabal  Kada’,  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
town,  with  Jabal  Kuda,  to  the  south-east  and  opposite  the  southern  angle 
of  the  sanctuary,  although  he  correctly  placed  the  ‘track  of  Kada’  ’  to  the 
north  of  Dhu  Tuwa  just  previously,  and  the  two  names  should  be  inter¬ 
changed.  See  the  plan  of  Mecca,  Fig.  5. 

208 


SANCTUARIES  OUTSIDE  MECCA 


everyone  who  passes  by  throws  a  stone  on  it,  for  it  is  said  that 
this  is  the  grave  of  Abu  Lahab  and  his  wife,  the  gatherer  of 
firewood.92  Between  this  track  and  the  town  of  Mecca  there 
is  a  flat  plain,  where  the  pilgrim  caravan  encamps  on  its 
return  from  Mina.  In  the  vicinity  of  this  place,  about  a  mile 
out  of  Mecca  (God  ennoble  her),  is  a  mosque,  in  line  with 
which  there  is  c  stone  placed  upon  the  road,  like  a  platform, 
and  surmounted  by  another  stone;  there  was  once  some  en¬ 
graving  upon  the  latter,  but  its  lines  have  been  effaced.  It  is 
said  that  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  sat  in 
this  place  to  rest  himself  on  coming  back  |  from  his  ‘Umra,  so  334 
people  seek  to  gain,  a  blessing  by  kissing  it,  and  lean  up  against 
it  [that  their  bodies  may  gain  the  blessing  of  contact  with  it].93 
— Al-Tandm,  a  league  distant  from  Mecca,94  which  the  in¬ 
habitants  of  Mecca  take  as  the  starting-point  for  their  ‘Umra, 
it  being  the  nearest  profane  territory  to  the  Sanctuary.  It  was 
from  this  place  that  the  Mother  of  the  Faithful,  ‘A’isha  (God 
be  pleased  with  her)  began  her  ‘Umra,  when  the  Apostle  of 
God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  sent  her,  on  the  occasion 
of  his  Farewell  Pilgrimage,  with  her  brother  ‘Abd  al-Rahman 
(God  be  pleased  with  him)  and  gave  him  instructions  to  guide 
her  through  the  ceremonies  of  the  ‘Umra  starting  from 
al-Tan‘im.  Three  mosques  have  been  built  on  the  road  there, 
all  of  which  are  called  after  ‘A’isha  (God  be  pleased  with  her). 
The  Tan‘Im  road  is  a  wide  track,  and  the  people  make  a  point 
of  sweeping  it  every  day,  out  of  desire  for  the  [heavenly]  re¬ 
compense  and  reward,  for  a  number  of  those  who  undertake 
the  ‘Umra  walk  along  it  barefooted.  On  this  road  also  are 
some  sweet  wells,  which  are  called  by  the  name  of  al- 
Shubaika.95  — Al-Zahir,  which  is  about  two  miles  from  Mecca, 
on  the  road  of  al-Tan‘Im.  It  is  a  place  lying  on  either  side  of 

92  On  the  real  ‘track  of  Kada’ about  a  mile  to  the  west  of  the  town.  Abu 
Lahab  is  the  nickname  of  Muhammad’s  uncle  ‘Abd  al-‘Uzza,  one  of  the 
Prophet’s  most  determined  opponents;  he  is  cursed  in  Sura  cxi  of  the 
Qur’an,  together  with  his  wife,  who  is  called  ‘the  gatherer  of  firewood’ — a 
phrase  whose  precise  contemporary  significance  is  disputed. 

93  The  words  in  square  brackets  are  from  Ibn  Jubair.  In  the  following 
paragraph  Ibn  Battuta  greatly  expands  and  revises  Ibn  Jubair’s  text. 

94  Five  miles  from  Mecca,  on  the  Madina  road.  It  is  the  mlqat  (see  p.  184, 
n.  106)  for  the  Lesser  Pilgrimage. 

96  Diminutive  of  shabaka,  meaning  a  shallow  communicating  well  or  pit 
of  rain-water. 


209 


MECCA 


335  the  road,  in  which  can  be  seen  |  the  remains  of  houses,  gardens 
and  bazaars.  On  one  side  of  the  road  is  an  oblong  platform, 
upon  which  are  set  rows  of  drinking  mugs  and  vessels  for 
ablutions.  The  intendant  of  the  place  keeps  them  filled  from 
the  wells  of  al-Zahir,  which  are  exceedingly  deep,  and  he  has96 
several  of  the  poor  brethren  who  are  in  residence  at  Mecca 
and  other  charitable  persons  helping  him  in  this  work,  be¬ 
cause  of  the  support  and  solace  which  it  gives  to  those  who 
are  performing  the  ‘Umra  [by  supplying  them  with  water]  for 
washing,  drinking,  and  making  ritual  ablutions.  [The  above- 
mentioned  valley  of]  Dhu  Tuwa  leads  to  al-Zahir. 

The  mountains  around  Mecca.  [The  first]  of  these  is  Jabal 
Abu  Qubais,  on  the  south-eastern  flank  of  Mecca  (God  pro¬ 
tect  her),  one  of  The  two  rugged  hills', 97  and  the  nearest  of  the 
hills  to  Mecca  (God  ennoble  her).  It  faces  the  angle  of  the 
Black  Stone.  On  top  of  it  is  a  mosque98  and  the  ruins  of  a 
convent  and  other  buildings,  and  al-Malik  al-Zahir99  (God's 

336  mercy  upon  him)  |  had  intended  to  restore  the  latter.  It  over¬ 
looks  the  illustrious  sanctuary  and  the  whole  town,  and  from 
it  one  may  obtain  a  view  of  the  beauty  of  Mecca  (God  en¬ 
noble  her),  of  the  elegant  symmetry  and  noble  proportions  of 
the  Sanctuary,  and  of  the  venerable  Ka‘ba.  It  is  stated  that 
Jabal  Abu  Qubais  was  the  first  hill  created  by  God  Most 
High,  and  on  it  was  deposited100  the  [Black]  Stone  during  the 
flood.  The  Quraish  used  to  call  it  The  trustworthy'  (al-Amin), 
because  it  gave  up  the  Stone  which  had  been  deposited  on  it 
to  al-Khalil  Ibrahim  (upon  him  be  peace).  It  is  said  also  that 
it  contains  the  grave  of  Adam  (upon  him  be  peace).  On  Jabal 
Abu  Qubais  also  is  the  spot  where  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and 
give  him  peace)  stood  when  the  moon  was  split  for  him.101 

96  Reading  lil-khddimi. 

97  Al-Akhshabani  (see  p.  190,  n.  10),  the  two  low  hills,  both  about  600  feet 
high,  which  hem  in  the  valley  of  Mecca  from  the  south-east  and  the  west 
(the  latter  being  strictly  Jabal  Hindi,  a  spur  of  Jabal  Qu’aiqi'an). 

98  Now  called  the  mosque  of  Bilal,  the  Prophet’s  muezzin  (see  p.  139,  n. 

269). 

99  The  Mamluk  sultan  Baibars  I  (see  p.  137,  n.  257). 

100  Literally  ‘was  confided  to  its  care’.  According  to  Muslim  tradition  the 
Black  Stone  (then  white)  was  Adam’s  seat. 

101  A  reference  to  the  ancient  Muslim  tradition  that  Muhammad,  when 
challenged  by  Quraish  to  perform  a  miracle,  showed  them  the  moon  split  in 
half  (probably  derived  from  a  popular  interpretation  of  Qur’an  liv,  1:  ‘The 
Hour  cometh  nigh,  and  the  moon  shall  be  split  asunder’). 

210 


MOUNTAINS  AROUND  MECCA 


Among  the  other  hills  round  Mecca  are  Qu‘aiqi‘an,  which  is 
one  of  ‘the  two  rugged  hills’;102  the  Red  Mount  [al- Jabal  al- 
Ahmar),  on  the  northern  side  of  Mecca  (God  ennoble  her);103 
al-Khandama,  which  rises  above  the  two  ravines  known  as 
Ajyad  the  Greater  |  and  Ajyad  the  Lesser;104  and  the  Hill  of  337 
the  Birds  (Jabal  al-Tair),  a  group  of  four  hills  on  either  side  of 
the  road  to  al-Tan‘Im,  said  to  be  the  hills  upon  which  al- 
Khalil  (upon  him  be  peace)  placed  the  dismembered  parts  of 
the  birds  and  then  called  them,  as  God  has  explicitly  related 
in  His  Exalted  Book;105  they  are  marked  by  pillars  made  of 
stones. 

Another  of  these  hills  is  Jabal  Hira,  to  the  north106  of 
Mecca  (God  ennoble  her)  and  about  a  league  distant  from  it. 

It  dominates  Mina,107  soaring  into  the  air  and  high-summited. 
The  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  used  fre¬ 
quently  to  devote  himself  to  religious  exercises  in  it  before  his 
prophetic  Call,  and  it  was  here  that  the  Truth  came  to  him 
from  his  Lord  and  the  divine  Revelations  began.  This  too  is 
the  mountain  which  quaked  beneath  the  Apostle  of  God 
(God  bless  and  give  him  peace),  and  to  which  the  Apostle  of 
God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  said  ‘Be  still,  for  on  thee 
are  none  other  than  a  Prophet  and  a  Veracious  one  and  a 
Martyr’.  There  is  some  difference  as  to  the  persons  who 
actually  were  with  him  on  that  day,  and  one  tradition  relates 
that  the  Ten  were  with  him.108  Another  tradition  relates  |  that  338 
Jabal  Thabir109  also  quaked  beneath  him. 

102  See  above,  n.  97. 

103  The  spur  of  Jabal  Qu'aiqi'an  now  called  Jabal  Hindi;  for  the  various 
names  given  to  it  see  al-Azraqi,  II,  216,  n.  4. 

104  Jabal  al-Khandama,  rising  to  about  2000  ft.,  lies  behind  and  to  the 
east  of  Abu  Qubais. 

105  Reference  to  Qur’an,  ii,  260:  ‘And  when  Ibrahim  said:  O  my  Lord, 
show  me  how  Thou  dost  revive  the  dead.  He  said:  Belie  vest  thou  not?  He 
said:  Yea,  but  that  my  heart  may  be  quieted.  He  said:  Then  take  four  birds 
and  turn  them  toward  thee,  then  place  upon  each  hill  a  part  of  them; 
thereafter  call  them,  they  will  come  to  thee  speedily.' 

106  Ibn  Jubair  more  correctly  says  ‘east’;  about  five  miles  from  the  town, 
to  the  north  of  the  road  to  ‘Arafat  (description  in  E.  Rutter,  Holy  Cities, 
282-4). 

107  See  p.  243  below. 

108  The  first  tradition  implies  that  he  was  accompanied  only  by  Abu  Bakr 
(called  al-Siddiq,  see  p.  164,  n.  40)  and  ‘Omar  (who  was  assassinated).  For 
the  Ten,  see  p.  93,  n.  98. 

109  See  p.  99,  n.  123. 


211 


MECCA 


Another  of  them  is  Jabal  Thawr,  at  the  distance  of  one 
league  from  Mecca  (God  Most  High  ennoble  her)  on  the  road 
to  al-Yaman.110  In  it  is  the  cave  which  served  as  a  refuge  to 
the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  when  he 
quitted  Mecca  (God  ennoble  her)  as  an  emigrant,  accompanied 
by  [Abu  Bakr]  al-Siddiq  (God  be  pleased  with  him),  as  is 
related  in  the  Exalted  Book.111  It  is  stated  by  al-Azraql112  in 
his  book  that  this  mountain  called  the  Apostle  of  God  (God 
bless  and  give  him  peace)  by  his  name  and  said,  ‘To  me,  0 
Muhammad,  to  me,  for  I  have  given  refuge  before  thee  to 
seventy  prophets'.  Then  when  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless 
and  give  him  peace)  entered  the  cave  and  became  secure  in  it, 
accompanied  by  his  friend  al-Siddiq,  the  spider  spun  her  web 
at  that  moment  over  the  door  of  the  cave  and  the  dove  made 
a  nest  and  hatched  her  eggs  in  it  by  the  will  of  God  Most 
High.  The  polytheists  [of  Mecca],  who  had  with  them  a  man 
skilled  in  tracking  footsteps,  came  at  length  to  the  cave  and 
said  ‘Here  the  track  stops',  but  when  they  saw  the  spider  | 
339  with  its  web  spun  over  the  mouth  of  the  cave  and  the  dove 
hatching  out  its  eggs,  they  said  ‘No  one  has  gone  in  here’  and 
turned  back.  Then  [Abu  Bakr]  al-Siddiq  said  ‘O  Apostle  of 
God,  what  if  they  had  come  in  upon  us  from  there?'  He 
replied,  ‘We  should  have  gone  out  here',  and  pointed  with  his 
blessed  hand  to  the  other  end,  where  there  was  no  door;  and 
straightway  there  was  opened  in  it  a  door  by  the  power  of  the 
King  and  Giver  of  all.  The  people  make  a  point  of  visiting  this 
blessed  cave,  and  try  to  enter  it  through  the  doorway  by 
which  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  gained 
entry  into  it,  for  the  sake  of  the  blessing  it  confers;  there  are 
some  of  them  who  manage  it,  but  some  of  them  do  not  suc¬ 
ceed  and  stick  in  it  until  they  are  pulled  out  with  a  ruthless 
tug.  Others  perform  a  prayer  in  front  of  the  cave,  without 
entering  it.  The  folk  of  those  parts  say  that  anyone  who  is 
true-born  can  enter  it,  but  he  who  is  born  of  adultery  cannot 

110  Six  miles  south-east  of  Mecca  (description  in  Rutter,  282-3). 

111  Sura  ix,  40:  ‘If  ye  aid  him  [the  Prophet]  not,  God  Himself  hath  aided 
him  when  the  unbelievers  drove  him  forth,  one  of  two,  when  they  two  were 
in  the  cave,  when  he  was  saying  to  his  companion:  Grieve  not,  verily  God  is 
with  us.’ 

112  See  p.  191,  n.  16.  The  narrative  is  actually  lifted  from  Ibn  Jubair,  but 
much  condensed. 


212 


THE  PROPHET’S  CAVE 

do  so,  and  so  many  people  avoid  making  the  attempt  because 
it  is  liable  to  end  in  shame  and  disgrace. 

Ibn  Juzayy  remarks:  I  have  been  told  by  certain  |  of  our  340 
shrewd-minded  shaikhs  who  have  made  the  pilgrimage  that 
the  cause  of  the  difficulty  in  entering  is  that  inside  it,  close 
to  this  cleft  by  which  entrance  is  gained,  there  is  a  large  stone 
lying  transversely  [across  the  passage].  When  anyone  [tries 
to]  enter  through  this  cleft  lying  flat  on  his  face,  his  head 
comes  up  against  that  stone,  so  that  he  can  neither  draw 
himself  in  nor  twist  himself  upwards,  seeing  that  his  face  and 
chest  are  close  to  the  ground.  The  man  who  does  this  is  the 
one  who  sticks  and  cannot  get  free  without  suffering  some  dis¬ 
comfort  and  being  pulled  out.  But  if  one  enters  through  the 
cleft  lying  on  his  back,  he  can  manage  it,  because  when  his 
head  reaches  the  transverse  stone,  he  raises  his  head  and  rises 
into  a  sitting  position.  He  then  has  his  back  supported  by  the 
transverse  stone,  his  middle  in  the  cleft,  and  his  legs  outside 
the  cave,  and  all  he  has  to  do  it  to  stand  upright  inside  the 
cave.  (Resumes.)  | 

Anecdote.  The  following  incident  happened  on  this  moun-  34i 
tain  to  two  of  my  associates,  one  of  them  the  esteemed  jurist 
Abu  Muhammad  ‘Abdallah  b.  Farhan  of  Tuzar  in  Ifrlqiya, 
the  other  Abu’l-‘ Abbas  Ahmad  of  Wadi  Ash  [Guadix]  in 
Andalusia.  They  proposed  [to  visit  the  cave]  during  the  period 
of  their  residence  in  Mecca  (God  Most  High  ennoble  her),  in 
the  year  seven  hundred  and  twenty-eight,  and  went  off  alone, 
without  getting  some  guide  who  knew  the  way  to  it  to  accom¬ 
pany  them.  They  lost  themselves  in  consequence,  missed  the 
way  to  the  cave,  and  followed  another  track,  which  came  to  a 
sudden  end.  This  was  at  the  time  when  the  heat  grows  violent 
and  summer  is  at  its  most  ardent.  When  the  water  they  had 
with  them  was  exhausted  and  they  had  not  yet  reached  the 
cave,  they  began  to  make  their  way  back  to  Mecca  (God 
Most  High  ennoble  her).  They  found  a  track  and  followed  it 
up,  but  it  led  to  another  mountain.  The  heat  beat  down  upon 
them,  thirst  tormented  them,  and  they  came  face  to  face 
with  death.  The  jurist  Abu  Muhammad  ibn  Farhan  was  finally 
unable  to  walk  any  further,  and  threw  himself  |  upon  the  342 
ground.  The  Andalusian  managed  to  save  himself,  for  he  had 
some  remnant  of  strength  left,  and  he  continued  to  follow  the 

213 


MECCA 


paths  on  those  hills  until  the  road  led  him  to  Ajyad.  He  then 
came  into  Mecca  (God  Most  High  ennoble  her),  sought  me 
out  and  told  me  the  whole  story  and  about  ‘Abdallah  al- 
Tuzarl  and  his  breakdown  on  the  mountain.  It  was  then 
about  the  close  of  day.  This  ‘Abdallah  had  a  cousin  named 
Hasan,  who  lived  in  Wadi  Nakhla113  but  was  at  that  moment 
in  Mecca.  I  informed  him  what  had  happened  to  his  cousin, 
and  then  sought  out  the  pious  shaikh,  the  imam  Abu 
‘Abdallah  Muhammad  b.  ‘Abd  al-Rahman  known  as  Khalil, 
the  imam  of  the  Malikites  (God  profit  us  by  him)  and  reported 
his  case  to  him  also.  He  sent  out  in  search  of  him  a  company 
of  Meccans  who  were  familiar  with  those  hills  and  rock-paths. 
To  advert  to  ‘Abdallah  al-Tuzarl,  he  had  betaken  himself, 

343  when  his  companion  left  him,  to  |  a  large  rock,  seeking  the 
shelter  of  its  shade,  and  he  remained  in  this  state  of  exhaus¬ 
tion  and  thirst,  with  the  carrion-crows  flying  over  his  head 
and  waiting  for  his  death.  When  the  daylight  was  gone  and 
darkness  fell,  he  recovered  some  strength,  and  refreshed  by 
the  cool  of  the  night  he  rose  at  dawn  to  his  feet  and  descended 
from  the  hillside  to  the  bottom  of  a  wadi,  which  was  sheltered 
by  the  mountains  from  the  rays  of  the  sun.  He  kept  on  walk¬ 
ing  until  an  ass  appeared  within  his  view,  and  making  in  its 
direction  he  found  a  bedouin  tent.  When  he  saw  it,  he  fell  to 
the  ground  and  was  unable  to  rise.  He  was  seen  by  the  woman 
of  the  tent,  and  as  her  husband  had  gone  to  fetch  water,  she 
gave  him  what  water  she  had  with  her.  It  did  not  quench  his 
thirst,  and  when  her  husband  came  back  he  gave  him  a 
whole  skin  of  water  without  quenching  his  thirst  either.  The 
man  set  him  on  an  ass  which  he  had  and  brought  him  to 
Mecca,  where  he  arrived  at  length  at  the  time  of  the  after¬ 
noon  prayer  on  the  following  day,  as  emaciated  as  if  he  had 
risen  from  a  grave.  | 

344  The  two  amirs  of  Mecca.  The  amirate  of  Mecca  at  the  time 
of  my  entry  was  in  the  hands  of  the  two  noble  sharlfs,  the 
brothers  Asad  al-Dln  Rumaitha  and  Saif  al-Dln  ‘Utaifa, 
sons  of  the  amir  Abu  Numayy  b.  Abl  Sa‘d  b.  ‘All  b.  Qatada, 
of  the  Hasanid  line.114  Rumaitha  was  the  elder  of  the  two, 

111  Two  valleys  to  the  north-east  of  Mecca  which  drain  into  Wadi  Fatima 
(see  p.  187,  n.  125). 

114  For  the  Hasanid  amirs  of  the  line  of  Qatada,  see  Snouck  Hurgronje, 

214 


AMIRS  AND  CITIZENS  OF  MECCA 

but  ‘Utaifa's  name  was  put  first  in  the  prayer  for  him  at 
Mecca,  owing  to  his  sense  of  justice.115  Rumaitha  had  of 
children  Ahmad,  ‘Ajlan  (he  is  the  amir  of  Mecca  at  the  present 
time),116  Thuqba,  Sind,  and  Mughamis;  ‘Utaifa’s  sons  were 
Muhammad,  Mubarak,  and  Mas'ud.  ‘Utaifa's  house  is  to  the 
right  of  Marwa,  that  of  his  brother  Rumaitha  in  the  convent 
of  al-Sharabl,  by  the  Gate  of  the  Banu  Shaiba.  Drums  are 
beaten  before  the  gate  of  each  of  them  at  the  hour  of  sunset 
prayer  every  day. 

The  Meccans’,  their  good  qualities.  The  citizens  of  Mecca  are 
given  to  welldoing,  |  of  consummate  generosity  and  good  dis-  345 
position,  liberal  to  the  poor  and  to  those  who  have  renounced 
the  world,  and  kindly  towards  strangers.  One  of  their  gen¬ 
erous  customs  is  that  when  any  of  them  makes  a  feast,  he 
begins  by  giving  food  to  the  poor  brethren  who  have  devoted 
themselves  to  the  religious  life  and  are  sojourning  at  the 
Sanctuary,  first  inviting  them  with  courtesy,  kindness  and 
delicacy,  and  then  giving  them  to  eat.  The  majority  of  these 
destitute  devotees  are  to  be  found  by  the  public  ovens,  where 
the  people  bake  their  bread.  When  anyone  has  his  bread 
baked  and  takes  it  away  to  his  house,  the  destitute  follow  him 
up  and  he  gives  each  one  of  them  whatever  he  assigns  to  him, 
sending  none  away  disappointed.  Even  if  he  has  but  a  single 
loaf,  he  gives  away  a  third  or  a  half  of  it,  conceding  it  cheer¬ 
fully  and  without  grudgingness. 

Another  good  habit  of  theirs  is  that  orphan  children  make  a 
practice  of  sitting  in  the  bazaar,  each  with  two  baskets,  one 
large  and  one  small  (the  Meccans  call  a  basket  by  the  name  of 
miktal).  A  man  of  the  townsfolk  |  of  Mecca  comes  to  the  346 
bazaar,  where  he  buys  grain,  meat  and  vegetables,  and  passes 
these  to  a  boy,  who  puts  the  grain  in  one  of  his  baskets  and 

Mekka,  I  (The  Hague,  1888),  75  ff,  and  the  table  in  Manhal  Safi,  p.  51. 
Biography  of  Rumaitha  (d.  1346  or  1347)  in  Durar,  II,  m-12;  of  ‘Utaifa 
(removed  from  office  1337,  d.  1342),  ibid.  455-6. 

115  The  passive  reading  yuqaddamu  is  confirmed  by  the  later  passage, 
p.  233  below.  ‘Utaifa  was  in  fact  the  senior  amir. 

116  ‘Ajlan  was  appointed  to  succeed  his  father  in  1345,  but  was  for  several 
years  engaged  in  armed  conflicts  with  his  brother  Thuqba,  to  the  distur¬ 
bance  of  the  pilgrims.  In  1353  Thuqba  was  imprisoned  in  Egypt,  but  later 
escaped,  fell  upon  the  Egyptian  forces  in  Mecca  during  the  Pilgrimage  in 
1360,  and  drove  them  out  with  severe  losses,  but  died  in  Mecca  a  few  months 
later.  ‘Ajlan  died  in  1375.  Durar,  I,  530-1;  II,  453-4. 

215 


MECCA 


the  meat  and  vegetables  in  the  other,  and  takes  them  to  the 
man’s  house,  so  that  his  meal  may  be  prepared  from  them. 
Meanwhile  the  man  goes  about  his  devotions117  and  his 
business.  There  is  no  instance  related  of  any  of  the  boys 
having  ever  abused  their  trust  in  this  matter — on  the  con¬ 
trary  he  delivers  what  he  has  been  given  to  carry,  with  the 
most  scrupulous  honesty.  They  receive  for  this  a  fixed  fee  of  a 
few  coppers. 

The  Meccans  are  elegant  and  clean  in  their  dress,  and  as 
they  mostly  wear  white  their  garments  always  appear  spot¬ 
less  and  snowy.  They  use  perfume  freely,  paint  their  eyes  with 
kuhl,  and  are  constantly  picking  their  teeth  with  slips  of 
green  arak-wood.118  The  Meccan  women  are  of  rare  and  sur- 

347  passing  beauty,  pious  and  chaste.  They  too  |  make  much  use 
of  perfumes,  to  such  a  degree  that  a  woman  will  spend  the 
night  hungry  and  buy  perfume  with  the  price  [of  her  food]. 
They  make  a  practice  of  performing  the  circuit  of  the  House 
on  the  eve  of  each  Friday,  and  come  in  their  finest  apparel, 
and  the  sanctuary  is  saturated  with  the  smell  of  their  perfume. 
When  one  of  these  women  goes  away,  the  odour  of  the  per¬ 
fume  clings  as  an  effluvium  to  the  place  after  she  has  gone. 

The  citizens  of  Mecca  observe  various  excellent  customs  at 
the  pilgrimage  season  and  other  periods  of  the  year,  and  we 
shall  speak  of  these,  if  God  Most  High  will,  when  we  finish  our 
account  of  its  distinguished  men  and  residents. 

The  Qadi  and  Khatib  of  Mecca,  the  Imam  of  the  Pilgrimage 
Ceremony  and  the  learned  and  pious  citizens.  The  qadi  of 
Mecca  is  the  learned,  pious,  and  devout  Najm  al-Dln 
Muhammad,  [grand-]  son  of  the  learned  imam  Muhyl  al-Dln 
al-Tabari,  a  worthy  man,  liberal  in  his  alms  and  charities  to 
the  [poor]  sojourners,  of  fine  character,  much  given  to  per- 

348  forming  the  circuit  and  to  contemplation  |  of  the  illustrious 
Ka‘ba.119  He  distributes  an  immense  quantity  of  food  on  the 

117  Literally,  ‘to  his  circuit  of  the  Ka‘ba\ 

118  Arak  is  a  leafy  shrub  [Salvador a  persica),  much  prized  both  for  camel 
fodder,  and  for  the  quality  of  its  wood  for  use  as  toothpicks. 

119  Muhammad  b.  Muhammad  b.  Muhibb  al-Dln  Ahmad  al-Tabari  (1260- 
1330),  °f  a  noted  family  of  scholars  long  established  in  Mecca,  succeeded  his 
father  as  qadi  in  1295,  and  was  himself  succeeded  by  his  son  Shihab  al-Din 
Ahmad  (d.  1359);  Durar,  I,  297;  II,  162;  genealogical  table  in  Manhal  Safi, 
no.  183.  The  title  of  Muhyi  al-Din  given  by  Ibn  Battuta  to  his  grandfather 
is  an  error. 


2l6 


QADI  AND  IMAMS  AT  MECCA 

occasion  of  the  great  festivals,  especially  on  the  Birthday  of 
the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace),  for  on  that 
day  he  distributes  food  to  the  Sharifs,  notables,  and  poor 
brethren  of  Mecca,  the  servitors  of  the  illustrious  Sanctuarv, 
and  all  the  sojourners.  The  Sultan  of  Egypt,  al-Malik  al- 
Nasir  (God's  mercy  upon  him)  held  him  in  high  honour,  and 
all  the  Sultan's  alms,  together  with  the  alms  of  his  amirs, 
used  to  pass  through  his  hands.  His  son  Shihab  al-Dln  is 
[also]  a  worthy  man,  and  it  is  he  who  is  now  qadi  of  Mecca 
(God  ennoble  her). 

The  preacher  of  Mecca  and  imam  at  the  Station  of  Ibrahim 
(upon  him  be  peace)  is  the  chaste  and  fluent  orator,  the  soli¬ 
taire  of  his  age,  Baha  al-Dln  al-Tabari.120  He  is  one  of  those 
preachers  whose  equal  in  effective  mastery  of  language  and 
excellence  of  diction  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  inhabited  world. 

It  was  told  me  that  he  composes  a  fresh  allocution  for  every 
Friday,  and  never  afterwards  repeats  it. 

The  imam  of  the  Pilgrimage  ceremony,  who  is  also  imam  | 
of  the  Malikites  in  the  illustrious  Sanctuary  is  the  learned  349 
shaikh  and  jurist,  the  pious,  humble,  and  celebrated  Abu 
‘Abdallah  Muhammad,  son  of  the  jurist-imam  the  pious  and 
abstinent  Abu  Zaid  ‘Abd  al-Rahman.  This  is  the  man  who  is 
widely  known  as  Khalil  (God  profit  us  by  him  and  prolong  his 
life  to  our  enjoyment).121  His  family  comes  from  the  district 
of  al-Jarld  in  Ifrlqiya,122  where  they  are  known  as  the  Banu 
Hayyun,  being  one  of  the  notable  families  of  that  part,  but 
his  birthplace,  and  that  of  his  father,  was  in  Mecca  (God 
ennoble  her).  He  is  one  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Mecca,  nay 
rather  its  unique  personality  and  pole,  by  common  consent  of 
all  parties,  schools  and  sects.  He  is  immersed  in  his  devotions 
at  all  times,  modest,  generous-minded,  of  fine  character,  full 
of  sympathy,  never  turning  away  disappointed  any  who  beg 
his  charity. 

Anecdote  of  blessed  import.  I  had  a  dream  in  the  days  of  my 
residence  in  Mecca  (God  ennoble  her),  while  I  |  was  living  in  350 
the  Muzaffarlya  college  there,  that  the  Apostle  of  God  (God 

120  Muhammad  b.  ‘Abdallah  b.  Muhibb  al-Din  Ahmad  (1279-1331), 
cousin  of  the  qadi. 

121  See  p.  203  above.  Ahmad  Baba  calls  him  al-Malaqi,  i.e.  of  Malaga. 

122  The  Shott  region  in  southern  Tunisia,  so  called  from  its  large  date- 
palm  oases  ( jarld  =palm  frond). 


21 7 


MECCA 


bless  and  give  him  peace)  was  sitting  in  the  class-room  of  this 
college,  beside  the  window  from  which  one  looks  out  upon  the 
illustrious  Ka'ba,  and  the  people  were  taking  his  hand  and 
swearing  allegiance  to  him.  I  saw  in  my  dream  that  the  shaikh 
Abu  'Abdallah  called  Khalil  came  in,  squatted  before  the 
Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace),  and  placing 
his  hand  in  the  hand  of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give 
him  peace)  he  said  'I  give  thee  my  allegiance  to  do  thus  and 
thus',  and  enumerated  a  number  of  things  including  'never  to 
turn  away  a  destitute  man  from  my  house  disappointed'. 
This  was  the  last  phrase  of  his  oath,  and  I  was  surprised  to 
hear  him  saying  it,  and  thought  to  myself:  'How  can  he  say 
this  and  carry  out  his  word,  seeing  the  multitude  of  the  poor 
of  Mecca  itself  and  [those  who  come  hither  from]  the  Yaman, 
Zaila',  al-'Iraq,  Persia,  Egypt  and  Syria?'  As  I  saw  him  in  my 
dream,  he  was  wearing  a  short  white  tunic  of  the  cotton 

351  fabric  |  called  fushtan ,123  which  he  used  sometimes  to  put  on. 
Next  morning,  after  performing  the  dawn  prayer,  I  went  to 
him  and  told  him  of  my  dream.  It  gave  him  great  pleasure  and 
he  wept  and  said  to  me:  'This  tunic  was  given  by  one  of  the 
saints  to  my  grandfather  and  for  that  reason  I  put  it  on 
[sometimes]  for  the  sake  of  the  blessing'.  I  never  saw  him 
after  that  turn  away  a  suppliant  disappointed.  He  used  to  bid 
his  servants  bake  bread  and  cook  food  and  bring  it  to  me  after 
the  afternoon  prayer  every  day.  The  people  of  Mecca  eat  only 
once  in  the  day,  after  the  afternoon  prayer,  and  content 
themselves  with  that  until  the  same  time  [on  the  following 
day].  If  anyone  wishes  to  eat  at  any  other  time  of  day,  he 
eats  dried  dates,  and  it  is  for  that  reason  that  their  bodies  are 
healthy  and  that  diseases  and  infirmities  are  rarely  found 
amongst  them. 

The  shaikh  Khalil  was  married  to  the  daughter  of  the  qadi 
Najm  al-Dln  al-Tabari,  but  later  on,  after  some  hesitation 

352  about  repudiating  her,  he  separated  from  her.  |  She  was 
married  after  this  to  the  jurist  Shihab  al-Dln  al-Nuwairl,324 
one  of  the  leading  personalities  among  the  sojourners,  who 

123  The  reading  fushtan  is  given  in  three  MSS.  This  is  ‘fustian’. 

124  Ahmad  b.  ‘Abd  al-‘AzIz  b.  al-Qasim  (d.  1336-7)  ( Durar ,  I,  173),  not 
his  homonym  Shihab  al-Dln  Ahmad  b.  ‘Abd  al-Wahhab  al-Nuwairi,  the 
famous  historian  and  encyclopaedist  (d.  1333). 

2l8 


IMAMS  AT  MECCA 

came  from  Upper  Egypt.  She  stayed  with  him  for  some  years 
and  travelled  with  him  to  al-Madlna  the  Illustrious,  accom¬ 
panied  by  her  brother  Shihab  al-Din.  Her  husband,  however, 
having  violated  an  oath  which  he  had  sworn  'by  repudia¬ 
tion’,125  separated  from  her  in  spite  of  his  attachment  to  her, 
and  the  jurist  Khalil  took  her  back  some  years  later. 

Amongst  the  pillars  of  the  community  at  Mecca  are  [the 
imams  of  the  other  three  rites,  namely]  the  imam  of  the 
Shafi'ites,  Shihab  al-Din  Ibn  al-Burhan;126  the  imam,  of  the 
Hanafites,  Shihab  al-Din  Ahmad  b.  ‘All,127  one  of  the  most 
notable  of  the  imams  and  virtuous  men  of  Mecca — he  supplies 
food  to  the  sojourners  and  [needy]  travellers,  and  is  the  most 
generous  of  the  jurists  of  Mecca;  he  runs  up  debts  every  year 
to  the  amount  of  forty  or  fifty  thousand  dirhams,  but  God 
discharges  them  for  him,  and  the  amirs  of  the  Turks128  respect 
him  and  think  highly  of  him  because  he  is  their  imam — ; 
and  the  imam  of  the  Hanbalites,  the  worthy  traditionist  | 
Muhammad  b.  ‘Uthman,  of  Baghdadi  origin  but  Meccan 
birth,129  who  officiated  also  as  substitute  of  the  qadi  Najm 
al-Din  and  as  muhtasib 130  after  the  assassination  of  Taqi 
al-Din  al-Misri;  the  people  stood  in  awe  of  him  on  account  of 
his  severity. 

Anecdote.  Taqi  al-Din  al-Misri  was  muhtasib  at  Mecca,  and 
had  a  habit  of  meddling  both  with  what  concerned  him  and 
what  did  not  concern  him.  It  happened  one  year  that  there 
was  brought  before  the  Amir  al-Hajj131  a  boy,  one  of  the 
[gangs  of]  ruffians  at  Mecca,  who  had  stolen  from  one  of  the 
pilgrims.  He  ordered  his  hand  to  be  cut  off,  whereupon  Taqi 
al-Din  said  to  him:  Tf  you  do  not  have  it  cut  off  in  your 

125  I.e.  in  which  he  had  used  the  formula  ‘May  my  wife  be  repudiated 
if  .  .  .’.  The  story  is  told  with  additional  details  also  in  Durar,  I,  173. 

126  Not  identified. 

127  Ahmad  b.  ‘All  b.  Yusuf  al-SijzI  al-Husaini  (1274/5-1361);  Durar,  I 
223. 

128  I.e.  of  the  Egyptian  Mamluk  troops. 

129  Jamal  al-Din  Muhammad  b.  ‘Othman  b.  Musa  (1261-1331);  the  family 
came  originally  from  Amid  (Diyarbekr);  Durar,  IV,  44. 

130  The  muhtasib  was  the  officer  charged  with  supervision  of  the  markets 
and  tradesmen,  and  of  public  morality  in  general.  Although  in  principle  a 
subordinate  officer  of  justice,  he  had  wider  liberty  of  action  than  the  qadi  in 
dealing  with  infractions  of  the  law. 

131  The  commander  of  the  pilgrim  caravan,  representing  the  sultan  of 
Egypt. 


353 


219 


MECCA 


presence  [the  sentence  will  not  be  carried  out],  for  otherwise 
the  people  of  Mecca  will  take  him  by  force  from  your  under¬ 
lings,  rescue  him  and  set  him  free/  The  amir  gave  orders 
accordingly  to  cut  off  his  hand  in  his  presence,  and  it  was  cut 
off.  The  lad  vowed  vengeance  for  it  upon  TaqI  al-Dln,  and 

354  never  |  ceased  watching  and  waiting  for  fortune  to  turn 

against  him.  He  could  do  nothing  against  him,  however,  for 

he  had  a  hasab  from  the  two  amirs  Rumaitha  and  ‘Utaifa. 

•  • 

The  hasab ,  in  their  use  of  the  term,  is  that  someone  is  given  in 
public  assembly  a  present  of  a  turban  or  skull-cap  which 
serves  as  a  [mark  of]  protection  for  the  recipient,  and  he  con¬ 
tinues  to  enjoy  the  immunity  which  it  confers  until  he  is 
about  to  leave  Mecca  and  remove  elsewhere.  TaqI  al-Dln 
remained  in  Mecca  for  some  years,  but  at  length  resolved  to 
depart,  took  leave  of  the  two  amirs,  and  performed  the  fare¬ 
well  circuit  of  the  Ka'ba.  As  he  went  out  [of  the  mosque]  by 
the  Gate  of  al-Safa,  he  was  met  by  the  same  person,  the  one 
whose  hand  was  cut  off,  who  complained  to  him  of  his  miser¬ 
able  condition,  and  begged  of  him  some  [money]  with  which 
to  relieve  his  needs.  TaqI  al-Dln  harshly  spurned  him  and 
bade  him  begone,  when  he  drew  a  dagger  he  was  carrying  (it 
is  known  amongst  them  by  the  name  oijambtya )132  and  smote 
him  one  blow  which  proved  fatal. 

Other  notables  at  Mecca  are  the  pious  jurist  Zain  al-Dln 

355  al-Tabari,  full  brother  of  Najm  al-Dln  |  (of  whom  we  have 
already  spoken),133  a  man  of  merit  and  charitable  to  the 
sojourners;  the  blessed  jurist  Muhammad  b.  Fahd  al-Qurashl, 
one  of  the  eminent  worthies  of  Mecca,  who  acted  as  deputy 
for  the  qadl  Najm  al-Dln  after  the  death  of  Muhammad  b. 
‘Othman  al-Hanball;  and  the  pious  notary134  Muhammad  b. 
Burhan,  abstemious  and  ascetic,  but  tormented  by  secret 
vagaries.  I  saw  him  one  day  making  his  ablutions  at  the  tank 
of  the  Muzaffarlya  college;  he  made  the  ritual  washings  and 
then  went  through  them  all  again,  and  when  he  had  wiped  his 
head  he  wiped  it  over  several  times  more,  but  even  that  did 
not  satisfy  him  and  he  plunged  his  whole  head  into  the  tank. 
When  he  was  about  to  perform  the  prayers,  he  would  often 

132  Literally,  'a  side  arm’. 

133  Abu  Tahir  Ahmad  b.  Muhammad  (d.  1341);  see  p.  216,  n.  119. 

134  'Adi;  see  p.  131,  n.  230. 


220 


NOTABLES  AND  SOJOURNERS  AT  MECCA 

say,  as  the  Shafi'ite  imam  was  praying,  'I  meant  to,  I  meant 
to’  and  then  pray  with  some  other  imam.  He  was  continually 
making  circuits  of  the  Ka'ba  and  performing  the  ceremonies 
of  the  Lesser  Pilgrimage  and  intoning  liturgies.  | 

Some  of  the  sojourners  at  Mecca.  Among  them  were  the  356 
following:  the  learned  and  pious  imam,  the  Sufi  adept135  and 
devotee,  'Aflf  al-Dln  'Abdallah  b.  As'ad  al-Yamani  al- 
Shafi'I,  known  as  al-Yafi'I.  He  was  constantly  making  circuits 
of  the  Ka'ba,  'at  times  in  the  night  and  at  the  extremities  ot 
the  day’.136  It  was  his  habit,  when  he  had  made  his  circuits  at 
night,  to  ascend  to  the  roof  of  the  Muzaffarlya  college  and  sit 
there  contemplating  the  illustrious  Ka'ba  until  he  was  over¬ 
come  by  sleep.  He  would  then  put  a  stone  beneath  his  head 
and,  after  sleeping  a  little,  would  renew  his  ablutions  and 
return  to  his  occupation  of  circuiting  until  the  time  for  per¬ 
forming  the  dawn  prayer.  He  was  married  to  the  daughter  of 
the  legist  and  devotee  Shihab  al-Dln  Ibn  Burhan.  She  was  a 
young  woman  and  was  for  ever  complaining  to  her  father  of 
the  position  in  which  she  found  herself;137  he,  on  his  part, 
would  counsel  her  to  patience,  and  she  stayed  with  al-Yafi'I 
for  some  years,  during  which  things  grew  no  better,  and  at 
length  she  separated  from  him. 

The  pious  devotee  Najm  al-Dln  al-Usfunl,  who  had  been  |  a  357 
qadl  in  Upper  Egypt  and  subsequently  consecrated  himself  to 
the  service  of  God  Most  High,  and  became  a  sojourner  at  the 
Illustrious  Sanctuary.  He  used  to  perform  the  Lesser  Pil¬ 
grimage  every  day  from  al-Tan'im,138  and  during  Ramadan 
twice  a  day,  in  reliance  upon  the  statement  in  the  Tradition 
attributing  to  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  the 
words  'An  'Umra  in  Ramadan  is  equivalent  to  a  Pilgrimage 
in  my  company’. 

The  pious  and  devoted  shaikh  Shams  al-Dln  Muhammad 
al-Halabl,  who  was  constantly  engaged  in  circuiting  and  in 
reciting  the  Qur’an.  He  was  one  of  the  most  old-established 
sojourners  and  died  at  Mecca  (God  ennoble  her). 

The  pious  Abu  Bakr  al-ShlrazI,  known  as  'the  Silent’.  He 

135  Literally,  ‘who  has  attained  to  a  knowledge  of  the  Verities’.  The  per¬ 
sonages  mentioned  in  this  paragraph  have  not  been  identified. 

136  Quotation  from  Qur’an,  xx,  130. 

137  I.e.  of  her  husband’s  neglect  of  her. 

138  See  p.  209,  n.  94. 


221 


MECCA 


was  constantly  engaged  in  circuiting  and  stayed  at  Mecca  for 
some  years  during  which  he  never  spoke. 

The  pious  Khidr  al-‘AjamT,  who  continually  fasted,  read 
the  Qur'an,  and  made  circuits. 

The  pious  shaikh  Burhan  al-Dln  al-'Ajaml,  the  homiletic 
preacher.139  A  rostrum  used  to  be  put  up  for  him  facing  the 
illustrious  Ka‘ba,  and  he  would  preach  to  the  people  and 
353  admonish  them  |  with  eloquent  tongue  and  lowly  heart,  [in  a 
manner]  which  gripped  all  hearts. 

The  pious  Qur'an-chanter  Burhan  al-Din  Ibrahim  al- 
Misrl,  an  excellent  teacher  of  the  recitation  [of  the  Holy 
Book],  who  lived  in  the  convent  of  the  Lote-tree.  The 
Egyptians  and  Syrians  made  a  point  of  giving  alms  to  him, 
and  he  used  to  teach  the  orphans  to  recite  the  Book  of  God 
Most  High,  as  well  as  paying  for  their  upkeep  and  clothing 
them. 

The  pious  and  devoted  Tzz  al-Dln  al-Wasitl,  a  man  of 
enormous  wealth,  to  whom  a  large  sum  of  money  was 
remitted  from  his  native  town  every  year.  He  used  to  buy 
grain  and  dried  dates,  and  [not  only]  distribute  them  to  the 
poor  and  needy,  but  even  superintend  in  person  the  carrying 
of  the  goods  to  their  houses.  This  was  his  regular  custom  until 
he  died. 

The  pious  and  austere  legist  Abu’l-Hasan  ‘All  b.  Rizq 
Allah  al-Anjari,  belonging  to  the  district  of  Tanja,  and  one  of 
the  saintliest  of  men.  He  sojourned  at  Mecca  for  some  years 
359  and  died  there.  |  There  was  a  long-standing  friendship  be¬ 
tween  him  and  my  father,  and  whenever  he  came  to  our  town 
of  Tanja  he  used  to  stay  with  us.  He  had  [at  Mecca]  a  room 
in  the  Muzaffariya  college,  where  he  taught  theology  during 
the  hours  of  day,  and  he  retired  at  night  to  his  dwelling  in  the 
convent  of  Rabf .  This  is  one  of  the  finest  convents  in  Mecca; 
within  its  precincts  is  a  well  of  sweet  water  with  which  no 
other  well  in  Mecca  can  compare,  and  its  inhabitants  are  [all] 
men  of  saintly  life.  The  people  of  the  Hijaz  hold  this  convent 
in  deep  veneration  and  bring  votive  offerings  to  it.  The  people 
of  Ta/if  supply  it  with  fruits;  they  have  a  custom  that  all 

139  A  homiletic  preacher  ( wdiiz )  is  one  who  delivers  informal  admonitory 
sermons,  in  distinction  from  the  official  khatlb,  who  pronounces  the  formal 
allocutions  at  the  Friday  prayers. 


222 


SOJOURNERS  AT  MECCA 


those  who  possess  a  garden,  whether  of  date-palms,  grapes, 
firsik  (that  is  peaches),  or  figs  (which  they  call  there  khamt 140), 
pay  the  tithe  from  its  produce  to  this  convent  and  convey  it 
there  on  their  own  camels.  The  distance  between  Mecca  and 
Ta  if  is  two  days’  journey.  If  anyone  fails  to  do  this,  his  crop 
is  diminished  and  dearth-stricken  in  the  following  year.  | 

Anecdote  on  its  miraculous  virtue.  One  day  the  retainers  of  360 
the  amir  Abu  Numayy,  the  ruler  of  Mecca,  came  to  this 
convent,  led  in  the  prince’s  horses,  and  watered  them  from  the 
well  mentioned  above.  When  the  horses  were  taken  back  to 
their  stables,  they  were  seized  with  colics  and  threw  them¬ 
selves  to  the  ground,  beating  it  with  their  heads  and  legs. 
Word  was  brought  to  the  amir  Abu  Numayy,  who  went  in 
person  to  the  gate  of  the  convent,  apologized  to  its  poor 
recluses,  and  begged  that  one  of  them  should  go  back  with 
him.  This  man  rubbed  the  beast’s  bellies  with  his  hand,  when 
they  expelled  the  water  from  that  well  which  they  had  in 
their  stomachs,  and  were  relieved  of  their  pains.  The  re¬ 
tainers  never  again  ventured  to  appear  at  the  convent  except 
for  good  purposes. 

Others  of  the  sojourners  were:  the  pious  and  blessed  Abu’l- 
‘  Abbas  al-Ghomarl,  one  of  the  associates  of  Abu’l-Hasan  ibn 
Rizq  Allah;  he  also  lived  in  the  Convent  of  Rabf  and  died  at 
Mecca  (God  ennoble  her);  the  pious  Abu  Ya'qub  Yusuf  from 
the  environs  of  Sabta  [Ceuta],  |  who  was  servitor  to  the  two  361 
last-named  shaikhs,  and  after  they  both  died  himself  suc¬ 
ceeded  them  as  shaikh  of  the  convent;  the  pious  ascetic  and 
follower  of  the  Sufi  path,  Abu’l-Hasan  'All  b.  Farghus  of  Tilim- 
san;  Shaikh  Sadd  al-Hindl,  shaikh  of  the  convent  of  Kalala. 

Anecdote.  Shaikh  Sa'Id  had  [sometime  before  this]  made  his 
way  to  the  king  of  India,  Muhammad  Shah,  who  gave  him  a 
large  sum  of  money  with  which  he  came  to  Mecca.  There  the 
amir  'Utaifa  threw  him  into  prison  and  demanded  of  him  the 
surrender  of  the  money.  He  refused,  and  was  tortured  by  the 
compression  of  his  feet  [between  pieces  of  wood]  until  at 
length  he  gave  up  twenty-five  thousand  dirhams  nuqra ,141  He 

140  The  word  is  used  in  Qur’an,  xxxiv,  16,  with  the  meaning  of  ‘coarse  wild 
fruit’. 

141  The  nuqra  dirhams  were  silver  coins  (or  perhaps  more  often  money  of 
account)  of  full  weight  and  fineness,  by  reference  to  which  the  various  de¬ 
based  dirhams  in  circulation  were  valued.  Estimates  of  its  value  are  slightly 

223  T.O.I.B. 


Q 


MECCA 


[afterwards]  went  back  to  India,  where  I  saw  him,  and 
lodged  in  the  mansion  of  the  amir  Saif  al-Dln  Ghada  b.  Hibat- 
Allah  b.  ‘Isa  b.  Muhanna,  the  amir  of  the  Arabs  of  Syria.142 
Ghada  was  settled  in  India,  married  to  the  king's  sister,  and 
his  story  will  be  related  hereafter.  The  king  of  India  gave 

362  Shaikh  Sa'Id  a  sum  of  money,  |  and  he  set  out  in  company 
with  a  pilgrim  named  Washl,  one  of  the  men  of  the  amir 
Ghada,  whom  this  amir  had  dispatched  to  fetch  some  of  his 
dependants  to  him.  He  sent  with  him  certain  sums  of  money 
and  valuable  presents,  including  the  robe  of  honour  which  the 
king  of  India  had  bestowed  upon  him  on  the  night  of  his 
marriage  with  the  latter's  sister.  This  robe  was  of  blue  silk, 
embroidered  with  gold  and  encrusted  with  jewels  to  such  a 
degree  that  the  colour  of  the  garment  could  not  be  seen,  so 
completely  did  the  jewels  overlay  it.  The  amir  also  entrusted 
him  with  fifty  thousand  dirhams  to  buy  thoroughbred  horses 
for  him.  Shaikh  Sa‘Id  then  set  off  in  company  with  Washl, 
and  they  bought  various  kinds  of  merchandise  with  what 
moneys  they  had  at  their  disposal.  When,  however,  they 
reached  the  island  of  Suqutra — from  which  the  Socotrine 
aloes  take  their  name — they  were  attacked  by  Indian  pirates 
with  a  large  number  of  vessels.143  [The  occupants  of  the  ship] 
put  up  a  vigorous  resistance  to  them,  in  the  course  of  which 

363  many  perished  on  both  sides,  |  and  Washl,  being  an  archer, 
killed  a  good  number  of  them.  Finally  the  pirates  overpowered 
them  and  struck  Washl  a  blow  with  a  spear,  from  which  he 
died  later,  then,  after  seizing  all  their  possessions,  they  left 
them  with  their  ship,  sailing  tackle,  and  provisions,  with 
which  they  made  their  way  to  ‘Adan,  and  there  Washl  died. 
It  is  the  custom  of  these  pirates  that  they  neither  kill  nor 
drown  anyone  save  in  the  fighting,  but  only  take  his  money 
and  let  him  go  with  his  ship  where  he  will,  nor  do  they  seize 
slaves,  since  they  are  of  their  own  kind. 

divergent,  but  the  average  weight  appears  to  have  been  2.97  grammes 
(45.85  grains). 

142  For  Muhanna  b.  ‘Isa  see  p.  107,  n.  152.  The  amir  Ghada  is  mentioned 
frequently  in  the  third  volume  of  Ibn  Battuta’s  travels. 

143  Socotra  was  notorious  in  the  Middle  Ages  as  a  haunt  of  Indian  pirates, 
but  continued  to  be  visited  by  traders  on  account  of  its  highly  prized  red 
aloes  or  ‘dragon’s  blood’  (the  exudation  of  Dracaena  cinnabari)  and  tortoise 
shells. 


224 


STORY  OF  SHAIKH  SA'Id 


Now  al-Haj  j  Sa‘Id  had  heard  from  the  king  of  India  that  he 
proposed  to  recognize  the  ‘Abbasid  cause  in  his  country,  as 
was  done  by  the  kings  of  India  who  preceded  him,  like  the 
Sultan  Shams  al-DIn  Lalmish  and  his  son  Nasir  al-Din,  or  the 
Sultan  Jalal  al-Din  Firuz-Shah  |  and  the  Sultan  Ghiyath  al-364 
Din  Balban,  to  whom  robes  of  honour  used  to  come  from 
Baghdad.144  When  Washl  died,  therefore,  Shaikh  Sa'Id  made 
his  way  to  the  Caliph  Abu’l-‘ Abbas,  son  of  the  Caliph  Abu’l-. 
Rabb  Sulaiman  the  ‘Abbasid  at  Cairo,145  and  informed  him  of 
this.  The  Caliph  then  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Sultan  in  his  own 
hand,  appointing  the  latter  his  delegate  in  the  land  of  India. 
Shaikh  Sa‘Id,  taking  this  letter  with  him,  went  to  the  Yaman, 
where  he  purchased  three  black  robes,  and  sailed  to  India. 
When  he  reached  Kinbayat146  (which  is  forty  days’  journey 
from  Dihll,  the  capital  of  the  king  of  India),  the  intelligence 
officer147  wrote  to  the  king  informing  him  of  the  arrival  of 
Shaikh  Sa'Id  and  that  with  him  was  the  Caliph’s  decree  and 
letter.  Orders  were  received  [in  reply]  to  dispatch  him  to  the 
capital  with  the  honours  [due  to  a  distinguished  guest].  On 
his  approach  to  the  capital,  [the  king]  sent  out  the  amirs, 
qadls,  and  men  of  law  to  welcome  him,  afterwards  himself 
going  out  to  welcome  him  also,  and  on  meeting  him  he 
embraced  him.  The  shaikh  delivered  to  him  first  the  decree, 
which  he  kissed  and  placed  upon  his  head,  |  and  then  the  365 
chest  containing  the  robes.  The  king  having  carried  this  on  his 
shoulder  for  a  few  paces,  himself  put  on  one  of  the  robes;  the 
second  he  bestowed  upon  the  amir  Ghiyath  al-Din  Muham¬ 
mad  b.  ‘Abd  al-Qadir  b.  Yusuf  b.  ‘Abd  al-'AzIz  b.  al-Mustan- 

144  Lalmish,  Altamsh,  etc.  are  popular  corruptions  of  the  name  of  Iltut- 
mish,  the  second  of  the  Mamluk  sultans  of  Dihli  (1210-36).  His  young  son 
Nasir  al-Din  Mahmud-Shah  reigned  1246-66  under  the  tutelage  of  the 
mamluk  Balban,  who  succeeded  him  with  the  title  of  Ghiyath  al-Din  and 
reigned  until  1287.  In  1290  Balban’s  descendants  were  displaced  by  the 
Khalji  general  Jalal  al-Din,  who  took  the  title  of  Firuz-Shah  and  died  in 
1296.  In  his  account  of  India  Ibn  Battuta  gives  a  popular  summary  of  the 
history  of  these  sultans.  For  the  illusory  nature  of  Muhammad  b.  Tughlaq's 
relations  with  the  Cairo  caliphate  implied  in  Ibn  Battuta’s  narrative,  cf. 

T.  W.  Arnold,  The  Caliphate  (Oxford,  1924),  103-4. 

145  Recognized  at  Cairo  with  the  title  of  al-Hakim  bi-amri’llah  II  (1341- 

52). 

146  Cambay,  see  Selections,  228-9.  The  name  is  spelled  here  and  below 
with  a  final  t. 

147  For  the  intelligence  service  in  India  see  Selections,  183-4. 

225 


MECCA 


sir,  the  ‘Abbasid  Caliph,  who  was  staying  at  his  court,  and 
whose  story  will  be  related  subsequently;148  the  third  robe  he 
bestowed  upon  the  amir  Qabula,  entitled  The  Great  King’, 
the  officer  who  stands  at  his  head  and  drives  off  the  flies  from 
him.149  By  the  Sultan's  order,  robes  of  honour  were  bestowed 
upon  Shaikh  Sa'Td  and  his  companions  and  he  was  mounted 
upon  an  elephant.  He  made  his  entry  into  the  city  thus,  with 
the  Sultan  preceding  him  upon  his  horse  and  to  right  and  left 
of  him  the  two  amirs  upon  whom  the  Sultan  had  bestowed 
the  ‘Abbasid  robes. 

The  city  had  in  the  meantime  been  embellished  with  all 
manner  of  decorations,  and  there  had  been  constructed  in  it 

366  eleven  wooden  pavilions,  each  |  of  four  stories,  and  each  story 
containing  a  troop  of  singers,  male  and  female,  and  dancing- 
girls,  all  of  whom  were  the  Sultan's  slaves.  Each  pavilion  was 
adorned  with  silken  fabrics  embroidered  in  gold,  above, 
below,  within  and  without.  In  the  midst  of  the  pavilions  were 
three  tanks  made  of  buffalo  hides  and  filled  with  water  in 
which  julep  had  been  dissolved,  for  everyone  coming  or  going 
to  drink  of,  and  access  to  it  was  denied  to  none.  Each  person 
who  drank  of  it  would  afterwards  be  given  fifteen  leaves  of 
betel,  with  areca  nuts  and  chalk,  to  eat;  these  sweeten  one's 
breath,  make  one's  face  and  gums  redder,  act  as  a  preventa¬ 
tive  of  jaundice,  and  as  a  digestive  of  what  has  been  eaten.150 
When  Shaikh  Sa'Id  rode  [in  state  into  Dihli]  upon  the 
elephant,  silken  cloths  were  spread  in  his  honour  in  front  of 
the  elephant  for  it  to  walk  upon  from  the  gate  of  the  city  to 
the  palace  of  the  Sultan.  He  was  lodged  in  a  mansion  close  to 
the  royal  palace  and  the  Sultan  sent  him  immense  gifts  of 

367  money.  None  of  those  fabrics  |  which  had  been  used  as 
hangings  and  furnishings  in  the  pavilions,  or  had  been  laid  in 
the  path  of  the  elephant,  was  returned  to  the  Sultan,  but  they 
were  taken  by  the  musicians,  the  artisans  who  constructed  the 

148  In  vol.  Ill,  258-70,  of  the  Arabic  text.  Al-Mustansir  was  the  penulti¬ 
mate  caliph  of  the  line  of  ‘Abbasid  Caliphs  at  Baghdad  (reigned  1226-42). 

149  Selections,  199.  The  title  malik  (‘king’),  which  originally  implied  the 
government  of  a  province  under  the  imperial  sovereign,  had  gradually  de¬ 
clined  and  was  by  now  frequently  bestowed  on  court  dignitaries  and  other 
persons. 

150  For  the  use  of  betel  or  pan  in  India  see  H.  Yule  and  A.  C.  Burnell, 
Hobson- Jobson  (London,  1886) ,  s.v.  betel. 

226 


STORY  OF  SHAIKH  SA'Id 


pavilions,  the  keepers  of  the  tanks,  and  other  persons.  This  is 
their  regular  practice  when  the  Sultan  arrives  home  after  a 
journey. 

The  king  issued  an  order  that  the  Caliph’s  letter  be  read 
every  Friday  from  the  pulpit  in  the  interval  between  the  two 
allocutions.151  Shaikh  Sa'Id  remained  [at  Dihll]  for  a  month, 
after  which  the  king  dispatched  him  with  presents  for  the 
Caliph,  and  he  reached  Kinbayat  and  stayed  there  until  the 
conditions  should  become  favourable  for  his  journey  by  sea. 

Now  the  King  of  India  had  also  sent  an  accredited  envoy 
to  the  Caliph,  namely  the  shaikh  Rajab  al-Burqu'i,  one  of  the 
shaikhs  of  the  Sufis,  originally  from  the  town  of  al-Qirim  in 
the  desert  of  Qibjaq,152  and  had  sent  with  him  gifts  for  the 
Caliph,  including  a  ruby  of  the  value  |  of  fifty  thousand  368 
dinars,  and  [a  letter  which]  he  had  written  to  him.  In  this  he 
requested  the  Caliph  to  confer  upon  him  the  delegacy  for  him 
in  the  land  of  India  and  Sind,  or  to  send  to  these  lands  some 
other  person,  whomsoever  he  should  think  fit.  These  were  the 
actual  terms  in  which  he  concluded  his  letter,  in  his  venera¬ 
tion  for  the  Caliph  and  sincerity  of  purpose. 

Shaikh  Rajab  had  a  brother  in  Egypt,  called  the  amir  Saif 
al-DIn  al-Kashif.153  When  Rajab  reached  the  Caliph,  the 
latter  declined  to  read  the  letter  or  to  accept  the  present 
except  in  the  presence  of  al-Malik  al-Salih  Isma/Il,  son  of  al- 
Malik  al-Nasir.154  Saif  al-DIn  then  counselled  his  brother 
Rajab  to  sell  the  stone,  which  he  did,  buying  with  the  price 
of  it  (amounting  to  three  hundred  thousand  dirhans)  four 
[other]  stones.  He  presented  himself  before  al-Malik  al-Salih 
and  delivered  the  letter  to  him  along  with  one  of  the  stones, 
and  presented  the  other  stones  to  his  amirs.  They  then  agreed 
that  a  letter  should  be  written  to  the  king  of  India  granting 
his  request,  and  sent  notaries  to  the  Caliph,  who  testified 
formally  that  he  had  appointed  the  king  as  substitute  for 

151  The  two  formal  khutbas  or  allocutions  pronounced  by  the  official 
khatib  at  the  midday  congregational  service  on  Fridays;  see  below,  p.  232, 
n.  169. 

152  Qirim,  Qiram,  or  Solghat,  now  Stary-Krim,  in  the  interior  of  the 
Crimea,  was  at  this  time  the  residence  of  the  Mongol  governor  of  the  Crimea 
(cf.  Selections,  143).  Southern  Russia  was  named  by  the  Muslim  geographers 
after  the  Turkish  tribe  of  Qipchaq,  known  to  the  western  writers  as  Cumans. 

163  Not  identified. 

164  Reigned  1342-5. 


227 


MECCA 


369  himself  in  the  land  |  of  India  and  the  adjacent  territories. 
Al-Malik  al-Salih  sent  an  accredited  envoy  [to  India] ,  namely 
the  Grand  Shaikh  of  Cairo,  Rukn  al-Din  al-‘Ajami,155  and  in 
his  company  went  Shaikh  Rajah  and  a  troop  of  Sufis.  They 
sailed  down  the  Persian  Gulf  from  al-Ubulla  to  Hurmuz, 
where  the  then  Sultan,  Qutb  al-Din  Tamtahan  b.  Turan- 
shah,156  gave  them  an  honourable  reception  and  equipped  a 
vessel  for  them  to  take  them  to  India. 

They  arrived  at  the  city  of  Kinbayat  at  the  time  when 
Shaikh  Sa‘id  was  staying  there.  Its  governor  at  that  period 
was  Maqbul  al-Tilingi,157  one  of  the  intimates  of  the  king  of 
India.  Shaikh  Rajab  had  an  interview  with  this  amir  and 
said  to  him:  ‘Shaikh  Sa‘id  has  simply  put  an  imposture  upon 
you,  and  the  robes  which  he  brought  along  were  only  bought 
by  him  in  ‘Adan.  It  is  your  duty  to  arrest  him  and  send  him 
to  Khund  ‘Alam’  (that  is,  the  Sultan).  The  governor  answered 
him:  ‘Shaikh  Sa‘id  is  high  in  the  esteem  of  the  Sultan,  and  so 
no  such  action  can  be  taken  with  him  except  by  the  Sultan’s 
order;  however,  I  shall  send  him  along  with  you,  in  order  that 
the  Sultan  himself  may  decide  what  to  do  with  him’.  The 

370  governor  then  sent  a  dispatch  |  to  the  Sultan  with  a  full  state¬ 
ment  of  what  had  occurred,  and  the  intelligence  officer  also 
wrote  an  account  of  the  incident.  The  Sultan  was  filled  with 
indignation,  and  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  Shaikh 
Rajab,  for  having  spoken  of  this  before  witnesses,  after  all 
the  honour  that  the  Sultan  had  shown  to  Shaikh  Sa‘id.  He 
refused  Rajab  permission  to  appear  before  him  and  heaped 
fresh  honours  upon  Shaikh  Sa‘id.  When  the  Grand  Shaikh 
entered  the  presence  of  the  Sultan,  the  latter  rose  to  greet 
him,  embraced  him,  and  showed  him  every  consideration; 
and  on  every  occasion  that  the  Grand  Shaikh  entered  before 
him  he  would  rise  for  him.  This  Shaikh  Sa‘id,  of  whom  we 
have  been  speaking,  remained  in  India,  enjoying  the  king’s 
consideration  and  favour,  and  there  I  left  him  in  the  year 
[seven  hundred  and]  forty-eight. 

There  lived  in  Mecca  in  the  days  of  my  sojourn  there 

165  Probably  Yusuf  b.  ‘Abdallah  al-Kurdi,  known  as  al-‘Ajami,  died  in 
1366  ( Durar ,  TV,  463). 

156  See  Selections,  119.  Tamtahan  is  an  error  for  Tahamtan  (Tehemten). 

167  Conjectural  emendation  for  ‘al-T.lt.ki’  of  the  printed  text. 

228 


STORY  OF  HASAN  THE  DEMONIAC 

Hasan  the  MaghribI,  the  demoniac,  a  man  of  strange  life  and 
remarkable  character.  He  had  formerly  been  sound  in  mind 
and  a  servitor  of  the  saint  Najm  al-Dln  al-Isbahani  during 
the  lifetime  of  the  latter.  | 

His  story .  Hasan  the  demoniac  was  assiduous  in  making  371 
circuits  of  the  Ka‘ba  by  night,  and  he  used  to  see  during  his 
nightly  circuits  a  faqlr  busily  circuiting  whom  he  never  saw 
by  day.  This  faqlr  came  up  to  him  one  night,  asked  him  how 
he  was,  and  said  to  him  ‘O  Hasan,  your  mother  is  weeping  for 
you  and  longing  to  see  you’  (she  was  one  of  the  handmaidens 
of  God);  ‘would  you  like  to  see  her?’  ‘Yes/  he  replied,  ‘but  I 
have  no  means  of  doing  that’.  The  faqlr  said  to  him  ‘We 
shall  meet  here  tomorrow  night,  if  God  Most  High  will’. 
The  following  night,  which  was  the  eve  of  Friday,  Hasan 
found  him  at  the  spot  which  he  had  appointed  for  their 
meeting,  and  they  made  the  circuit  of  the  House  together  so 
many  times.  The  faqlr  then  went  out  [of  the  Sanctuary], 
Hasan  following  close  behind  him,  to  the  Ma‘la  Gate; 
[arrived  there]  he  bade  him  shut  his  eyes  and  hold  fast  to  his 
garment.  Hasan  did  so.  After  a  time  the  faqir  asked:  ‘Would 
you  recognize  your  own  town?’  ‘Yes/  said  Hasan.  ‘Well,  here 
it  is’,  he  said.  Hasan  opened  his  eyes  and  lo!  he  was  at  the 
gate  |  of  his  mother’s  house.  So  he  went  in  to  her,  without  372 
telling  her  anything  of  what  had  happened,  and  stayed  with 
her  for  a  fortnight — I  think  his  town  was  the  city  of  Asafl.  He 
then  went  out  to  the  cemetery  where  he  found  his  friend  the 
faqlr,  who  said  to  him  ‘How  are  you?’  He  replied:  ‘O  sir,  I 
have  been  longing  to  see  Shaikh  Najm  al-Dln,  for  I  went  out 
of  his  house  in  my  usual  way  and  have  been  away  from  him 
all  these  days,  and  I  should  like  you  to  take  me  back  to  him/ 
The  faqlr,  saying  ‘Yes  certainly’,  made  an  appointment  to 
meet  him  at  the  cemetery  by  night.  When  Hasan  came  to 
him  there,  he  bade  him  do  as  he  had  done  at  Mecca  (God 
ennoble  her),  that  is,  close  his  eyes  and  grip  his  skirt.  He  did 
so,  and  lo!  he  was  in  Mecca  (God  ennoble  her)!  The  faqir 
charged  him  to  speak  no  word  to  Najm  al-Din  of  what  had 
happened,  nor  to  speak  of  it  to  any  other  person,  but  when 
he  came  in  to  Najm  al-Din  the  saint  said  to  him  ‘Where  have 
you  been,  Hasan,  during  your  absence?’  |  Hasan  [at  first]  373 
would  not  tell  him,  but  when  Najm  al-Din  pressed  him,  he 

229 


MECCA 


told  him  the  story.  The  Shaikh  then  said  'Show  me  the  man’, 
and  came  with  him  by  night.  The  man  came  according  to  his 
usual  custom,  and  when  he  passed  them  Hasan  said  to  his 
master,  'Sir,  this  is  he’.  The  man  heard  him  and  struck  him  on 
the  mouth  with  his  hand  saying  ‘Be  silent,  God  make  thee 
silent/.  Immediately  his  tongue  became  tied,  and  his  reason 
went.  So  he  remained  in  the  Sanctuary,  a  demented  man, 
making  circuits  night  and  day  without  either  ablutions  or 
prayers,  while  the  people  looked  upon  him  as  a  means  of 
blessing  and  clothed  him.  When  he  felt  hungry  he  went  out 
to  the  market  which  is  between  al-Safa  and  Marwa,158  where 
he  would  make  for  one  of  the  booths  and  eat  what  he  liked 
from  it;  nobody  would  drive  him  off  or  hinder  him — on  the 
contrary,  everyone  from  whose  stock  he  ate  anything  was 
rejoiced,  and  it  procured  for  that  person  blessing  and  increase 
in  his  sales  and  profits.  Whenever  he  came  into  the  market, 
the  stall-keepers  would  crane  their  necks  towards  him,  on 
374  account  of  |  the  experience  they  had  gained  of  the  blessing 
which  he  conferred.  He  did  exactly  the  same  with  the  water- 
carriers  when  he  wished  to  drink.  This  continued  to  be  his  way 
of  living  until  the  year  [seven  hundred  and]  twenty-eight,  when 
the  amir  Saif  al-Din  Yalmalak159  came  on  pilgrimage  and 
took  him  back  with  him  to  Egypt.  From  that  time  no  further 
news  of  him  was  heard — God  Most  High  profit  [us]  by  him ! 

Custom  observed  by  the  Meccans  at  their  prayers ,  and  the 
positions  of  their  imams.  One  feature  of  their  usage  is  that  the 
first  of  the  [four]  imams  to  recite  the  prayers  is  the  imam 
of  the  Shafi'ites,  who  is  the  imam  appointed  by  those  in 
authority.160  He  performs  his  prayers  behind  the  Holy 
Station,  the  Station  of  Ibrahim  al-Khalil  (upon  him  be  peace), 
in  a  special  enclosure  for  him  there  of  admirable  construction. 
The  mass  of  the  people  in  Mecca  belong  to  his  rite.  This  en¬ 
closure  is  formed  by  two  beams  joined  by  traverses  in  the 
shape  of  a  ladder,  opposite  which  are  two  other  beams  con- 

168  See  p.  206  above. 

169  See  p.  30,  n.  79. 

160  Ibn  Battuta  here  adapts  Ibn  Jubair’s  phrase  ‘appointed  to  represent 
the  ‘Abbasid  Imam’  (i.e.  the  caliph)  to  the  circumstances  of  his  own  time, 
but  leaves  it  vague  whether  ‘those  in  authority’  are  the  sharifs  of  Mecca  or 
their  Mamluk  suzerains.  I  take  muqaddam  here  as  used  in  the  western  Arabic 
sense. 


230 


PRAYERS  IN  THE  MOSQUE 

nected  in  the  same  way,  all  these  beams  being  fixed  upon 
pedestals  |  of  plaster.  Across  the  top  of  the  beams  is  laid  375 
another  beam,  containing  iron  hooks  upon  which  are  hung 
glass  lamps. 

When  the  Shafbite  imam  has  finished  his  prayer  the  imam 
of  the  Malikites  prays  after  him  in  an  oratory  facing  the 
Yamanite  angle,161  and  the  imam  of  the  Hanbalites  prays 
along  with  him  at  the  same  time  [from  a  position]  facing  that 
[part  of  the  wall  of  the  Ka‘ba]  which  is  between  the  Black 
Stone  and  the  Yamanite  angle.  Lastly,  the  imam  of  the 
Hanafites  prays  facing  the  sanctified  Spout,  standing  under 
[an  erection  similar  to  that  of  the  Shafbite  imam,  which 
forms]  an  enclosure  reserved  for  him  at  that  point.  Candles 
are  placed  in  front  of  the  imams  in  their  respective  oratories. 
Their  order  of  praying  remains  the  same  for  the  four  services 
[exclusive  of  the  sunset  prayer],  but  at  the  sunset  prayer 
they  pray  all  at  the  same  time,  each  imam  leading  his  own 
congregation.  In  consequence  of  this  the  people  are  invaded 
by  some  wandering  of  attention  and  confusion;  the  Malikite 
[worshipper]  often  bows  in  time  with  the  bowing  of  the 
Shafbite,  and  the  Hanafite  prostrates  himself  at  the  prostra¬ 
tion  of  the  Hanbalite,  and  you  see  them  listening  attentively 
each  one  |  to  the  voice  of  the  muezzin  who  is  chanting  to  the  376 
congregation  of  his  rite,  so  that  he  does  not  fall  victim  to 
inattention. 

Their  practice  in  regard  to  the  Khutba  and  the  Friday  service. 
Their  practice  on  Fridays  is  as  follows.  The  blessed  pulpit  is 
set  up  against  the  wall  of  the  illustrious  Ka‘ba  in  the  space 
between  the  Black  Stone  and  the  ‘Iraqi  angle,  so  that  the 
preacher  is  facing  the  holy  Station  [of  Ibrahim].  When  the 
preacher162  comes  out,  he  advances,  dressed  in  a  black  robe 
and  wearing  a  black  turban  and  black  hood,163  all  of  which 
are  the  gift  of  Al-Malik  al-Nasir,  with  gravity  and  dignity, 
moving  at  a  deliberate  pace  between  two  black  standards, 
held  by  two  of  the  muezzins,  and  preceded  by  one  of  the  chief 
servitors  carrying  the  farqaa.  This  is  a  rod  with  a  thin  twisted 

161  Ibn  Jubair  describes  the  oratory  ( mihrab )  as  ‘made  of  stone  and  re¬ 
sembling  the  wayside  oratories’. 

162  The  official  Khatib.  The  black  robe  and  turban  were  the  official  vest¬ 
ments  of  the  ‘Abbasid  caliphate. 

163  The  tailasan,  corresponding  in  use  to  the  modern  academic  hood. 

231 


MECCA 


cord  at  the  end;  the  holder  flourishes  it  in  the  air  and  there 
is  heard  from  it  a  sharp  crack,  audible  to  both  those  who  are 
within  the  sanctuary  and  those  outside  it,164  which  serves 

377  as  a  signal  |  that  the  preacher  has  come  out.  He  continues  to 
advance  thus  until  he  is  close  to  the  pulpit,  when  he  [turns 
aside  to]  kiss  the  Black  Stone  and  makes  an  invocation  there. 
Having  done  so,  he  moves  on  towards  the  pulpit,  preceded 
by  the  Zamzam  muezzin,  who  is  the  chief  of  the  muezzins,165 
dressed  in  black  and  with  the  sword  across  his  shoulder  and 
held  [only]  by  his  hand.166  The  two  banners  are  planted  on 
either  side  of  the  pulpit,  and  as  the  preacher  ascends  the  first 
of  the  pulpit  steps  the  muezzin  girds  him  with  the  sword.  He 
then  strikes,  with  the  point  of  the  sword,167  a  blow  upon  the 
step  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  those  present,  and  subse¬ 
quently  strikes  another  blow  upon  the  second  step  and  yet 
another  on  the  third.  When  he  stands  erect  on  the  topmost 
step,  he  strikes  a  fourth  blow  and  remains  standing  as  he 
makes  first  a  private  prayer,  with  face  turned  to  the  Ka'ba, 
and  then  turns  towards  the  people  and  gives  the  word  of 
peace  on  his  right  and  left.  The  people  return  his  salutation, 
and  he  then  sits  down.  The  muezzins  now  intone  the  call  to 

378  prayer,  from  the  top  of  the  pavilion  of  Zamzam,  |  in  unison. 
As  soon  as  the  call  is  completed,  the  preacher  delivers  an 
allocution,  full  of  repeated  blessings  upon  the  Prophet  (God 
bless  and  give  him  peace),  saying,  for  example:  ‘O  God,  bless 
Muhammad  and  the  Family  of  Muhammad  so  long  as  one 
person  makes  the  circuit  of  this  House’  (and  he  points  with 
his  finger  to  the  Holy  House),  ‘O  God,  bless  Muhammad  and 
the  Family  of  Muhammad  so  long  as  one  person  makes  the 
stand  at  ‘Arafa’.  He  then  prays  that  God  will  be  well-pleased 
with  the  four  Caliphs,  the  other  Companions,  the  two 
paternal  uncles  of  the  Prophet168  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace),  his  two  grandsons,  their  mother  [Fatima]  and  grand¬ 
mother  Khadija  (upon  all  of  them  be  peace).  Next169  he  prays 

164  The  use  of  this  instrument  seems  to  have  been  peculiar  to  Mecca. 

165  Abu  Ahmad  Salim  b.  Yaqut  (1267-1362);  Durar,  II,  125. 

166  Not  girt  on,  i.e.  suspended  from  a  shoulder-strap,  as  was  usual. 

167  The  traditional  practice  of  leaning  on  a  sword  or  bow  by  the  khatib 
derives  from  an  ancient  Arab  custom  of  oratory. 

168  Hamza  (see  p.  79,  n.  39)  and  al-‘Abbas  (‘All’s  father  Abu  Talib  having 
died  in  infidelity) . 

169  Ibn  Battuta  here  passes  on  directly  to  the  second  allocution,  omitting 

232 


RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIES 

for  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  after  him  for  the  Sultan,  the  Champion 
of  the  Faith,  Nur  al-Dln  ‘All  son  of  al-Malik  al-Mu’ayyad 
Da’ud  son  of  al-Malik  al-Muzaffar  Yusuf  b.  ‘All  b.  Rasul,170 
and  after  him  for  the  two  illustrious  Sayyids  of  the  house  of 
al-Hasan,  the  joint-amirs  of  Mecca,  Saif  al-Dln  ‘Utaifa  (whose 
name,  although  he  is  the  younger  of  the  brothers,  is  put  first 
on  account  of  his  fair-dealing)  and  Asad  al-Dln  |  Runaitha,  379 
sons  of  Abu  Numayy  b.  Abu  Sa‘d  b.  ‘All  b.  Qatada. 
He  even  prayed  for  the  Sultan  of  al-Traq  formerly,  but 
a  stop  was  put  to  that.  On  terminating  his  khutba,  he 
performs  the  prayer  and  withdraws,  the  two  standards  being 
[carried]  on  his  right  and  left  and  the  farqa'a  in  front  of  him, 
to  indicate  the  conclusion  of  the  service.  The  pulpit  is 
subsequently  moved  back  to  its  place  opposite  the  Holy 
Station. 

Their  practice  at  the  beginning  of  the  months.  The  ceremony 
which  they  observe  on  these  occasions  is  as  follows.  The  amir 
of  Mecca  comes  [in  state]  on  the  first  day  of  the  month,  sur¬ 
rounded  by  his  officers  and  himself  dressed  in  white,  turbaned 
and  girt  with  a  sword,  a  grave  and  dignified  figure,  and  makes 
a  prayer  of  two  bowings  beside  the  Holy  Station.  He  then 
kisses  the  [Black]  Stone  and  begins  to  make  a  sevenfold 
circuit.  Meanwhile,  the  leader  of  the  muezzins  is  standing  on 
top  of  the  pavilion  of  Zamzam.  When  the  amir  completes  one 
turn  [round  the  KaTa]  and  is  approaching  the  Stone  to  kiss 
it,  the  leader  of  the  muezzins  breaks  out  into  prayers  |  for38o 
him  and  congratulations  on  the  entry  of  the  new  month, 
lifting  up  his  voice  as  he  does  so.  He  follows  this  up  by 
reciting  a  poem  in  praise  of  him  and  of  his  noble  ancestors, 
and  makes  similar  invocations  and  recites  similar  verses  for 
him  on  [each  of]  the  seven  circuits.  The  amir,  on  completing 
them,  makes  a  prayer  of  two  bowings  at  the  Multazam,  then 
another  prayer  also  of  two  bowings  behind  the  Station  [of 
Ibrahim],  and  withdraws.  He  goes  through  exactly  the  same 
ceremony  when  he  is  about  to  make  a  journey  and  on  his 
return  from  a  journey  also. 

the  pause  (see  p.  227  above,  n.  151).  In  the  second  allocution,  blessings  are 
invoked  on  the  political  authorities  recognized  at  the  time  and  place. 

170  The  reigning  sultan  of  the  Yaman  ( Selections ,  109,  and  cf.  above, 
p.  203,  n.  67). 


233 


MECCA 


Their  practice  in  the  month  of  Rajah}11  When  the  new  moon 
of  Rajab  appears,  the  amir  of  Mecca  orders  the  drums  and 
trumpets  to  be  sounded,  announcing  the  entry  of  the  month. 
Following  this  he  goes  out  on  the  first  day  of  the  month, 
mounted  on  horseback,  and  accompanied  by  the  citizens  of 
Mecca,  on  horse  and  on  foot,  in  marvellous  procession.  They 
all  engage  in  games  with  their  weapons  before  him — the 
horsemen  wheeling  and  racing,  the  footmen  attacking  one 
another  [in  sham  fighting]  and  throwing  their  javelins  in  the 

381  air  |  and  catching  them  again.  The  amir  Rumaitha  and  the 
amir  'Ufaifa  are  accompanied  by  their  sons  and  their  officers, 
such  as  Muhammad  b.  Ibrahim,  ‘All  and  Ahmad  sons  of 
Sablh,  'All  b.  Yusuf,  Shaddad  b.  'Omar,  ‘Amir  al-Shariq, 
Mansur  b.  'Omar,  Musa  al-Muzraqq,172  and  others  of  the  prin¬ 
cipal  descendants  of  al-Hasan  and  of  the  chief  officers.  Pre¬ 
ceding  them  are  the  standards,  drums,  and  kettledrums,  and 
they  present  grave  and  dignified  figures.  They  proceed  thus 
until  they  reach  the  appointed  place,  when  they  begin  on  the 
return  journey  to  the  Sacred  Mosque  in  their  accustomed 
order.  The  amir  then  makes  the  circuit  of  the  House,  while 
the  muezzin  of  Zamzam,  on  the  top  of  the  pavilion  of  Zam- 
zam,  prays  for  him  at  the  end  of  every  circuit,  according  to 
the  ceremonial  observed  by  him  as  we  have  related  it  above. 
When  he  finishes  the  sevenfold  circuit,  he  makes  a  prayer  of 
two  bowings  at  the  Multazam,  prays  at  the  Station  and 
touches  it,  and  goes  out  to  the  Mas  a}12,  where  he  performs 
the  course  riding  on  horseback,  with  his  officers  on  either  side 
and  his  guard  of  spearmen174  in  front  of  him.  After  this  he 

382  returns  to  his  residence.  This  day  is  regarded  by  them  as  |  one 
of  their  great  feasts,  and  on  it  they  dress  in  their  finest 
garments,  outrivalling  one  another  in  this  respect. 

The  ‘  Umra  of  Rajab.  The  citizens  of  Mecca  celebrate  the 
‘Umra  of  Rajab  with  a  solemnity  such  as  is  not  to  be  seen 
elsewhere.  It  goes  on  continuously  night  and  day,  and  the 

171  The  seventh  month  of  the  Muslim  year,  one  of  the  ‘Sacred  Months’  of 
the  pre-Islamic  year,  dedicated  to  the  'umra  or  Lesser  Pilgrimage. 

172  These  names  are  those  of  the  officers,  and  some  of  the  readings  are 
uncertain. 

173  See  p.  205  above. 

174  Al-harrdba,  the  negro  guard  of  the  amirs  of  Mecca,  formed  of  foot- 
soldiers  armed  with  spears  or  javelins. 

234 


THE  'UMRA  OF  RAJAB 

whole  space  of  the  month  is  occupied  with  devotions,  more 
especially  its  first,  fifteenth,  and  twenty-seventh  days,  since 
they  are  engaged  for  some  days  beforehand  in  making  pre¬ 
parations  for  these  ceremonies.  I  witnessed  their  doings  as  a 
participant  on  the  eve  of  the  twenty-seventh  of  the  month.175 
The  streets  of  Mecca  were  choked  with  howdahs,  covered 
with  cloths  of  silk  and  fine  linen,  everyone  making  a  show  to 
the  measure  of  his  means,  and  the  camels  were  decorated, 
with  silken  collars  on  their  necks,  and  long  hangings  of  the 
howrdahs  that  all  but  reached  the  ground,  so  that  they  looked 
like  pitched  tents.  |  The  whole  ga  thering  then  goes  out  to  the  383 
appointed  place  of  Tan‘Im,  so  that  the  valleys  of  Mecca  are 
[as  it  were]  aflood  with  these  howdahs.  Fires  are  lighted  on 
both  sides  of  the  road,  and  candles  and  torches  [carried]  in 
front  of  the  howdahs.  The  hills  answer  with  their  echoes  the 
cries  of  Labbaika 176  raised  by  the  worshippers,  [and  the  scene 
so  stirs  the  emotions]  that  men’s  hearts  are  softened  and  their 
eyes  flow  with  tears.  On  completing  the  'Umra  and  making 
the  circuit  of  the  Holy  House,  they  go  out  [of  the  Sanctuary] 
to  make  the  course  between  al-Safa  and  al-Marwa  when  about 
a  third177  of  the  night  is  past.  The  Mas  a  is  ablaze  with  lamps 
and  choked  with  the  mass  of  people  and  women  making  the 
ceremony  of  the  course  in  their  howdahs,  and  the  Sacred 
Mosque  also  glows  with  light. 

The  Meccans  give  to  this  ‘Umra  the  name  of  al-Umra 
al-Akamiya  [that  is  to  say,  the  ‘Umrah  of  the  Eminence] 
because  they  commence  the  rites  of  pilgrimage  on  this 
occasion  from  an  eminence  in  front  of  the  mosque  of  ‘  A’isha178 
(God  be  pleased  with  her)  and  at  a  distance  [from  it]  of  a 
bowshot,  close  to  the  mosque  called  by  the  name  of  ‘All  (God 
be  pleased  with  him).  The  origin  of  this  ceremony  goes  back 
to  ‘Abdallah  b.  al-Zubair179  (God  be  pleased  |  with  him  and  3s4 

176  For  the  significance  of  this  date  see  the  following  paragraph. 

176  See  p.  184,  n.  109. 

177  The  missing  word  in  two  MSS  is  probably  had’  (cf.  Ibn  Jubair,  130). 

178  See  p.  209  above. 

179  See  p.  179,  n.  85.  The  Ka'ba  having  been  damaged  during  the  siege  of 
Mecca  by  the  Syrian  forces  sent  against  him  in  683,  he  pulled  the  remains 
down  and  rebuilt  it  with  some  modifications,  reincorporating  the  hijr  (see 
p.  199,  n.  43)  in  the  new  building.  It  was  most  probably  on  the  occasion  of 
this  siege  that  the  Black  Stone  was  cracked,  when  the  Ka'ba  was  set  on  fire 
(see  above,  p.  197  and  n.  35). 


235 


,  MECCA 

with  his  father).  When  he  had  completed  the  building  of  the 
sanctified  Ka‘ba,  he  went  out,  walking  barefooted,  to  make 
an  ‘Umra  accompanied  by  the  citizens  of  Mecca.  The  date 
was  the  twenty-seventh  day  of  Rajab.  He  went  as  far  as  this 
eminence,  and  having  begun  the  rites  of  pilgrimage  from 
there  made  his  way  by  the  track  of  al-Hajun  to  the  Mala,180 
whence  the  Muslims  entered  Mecca  on  the  Day  of  Conquest. 
This  ‘Umra  has  therefore  remained  a  traditional  practice 
among  the  people  of  Mecca  down  to  the  present  day.  The  ‘day 
of  ‘Abdallah’  was  celebrated,  for  he  himself  provided  a  large 
number  of  animals  for  sacrifice  upon  it,  and  the  chiefs  of  the 
Meccan  families  and  other  citizens  of  means  did  the  same,  and 
the  people  continued  for  several  days  to  eat  and  to  give  to 
eat,  in  gratitude  to  God  Most  High  for  the  furtherance  and 
help  which  He  had  granted  to  them  in  building  His  Holy 
House  exactly  as  it  had  been  in  the  days  of  al- Khalil  (the 
blessings  of  God  be  upon  him).  But  later  on,  when  Ibn  al- 
Zubair  was  killed,  al-Hajjaj  pulled  down  the  Ka‘ba  and 
385  restored  it  to  its  plan  [as  it  was]  |  in  the  time  of  Quraish.  For 
they  had  cramped  its  construction181  and  the  Apostle  of  God 
(God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  left  it  in  that  condition  owing 
to  the  recency  of  their  conversion  from  infidelity.182  Sub¬ 
sequently  the  Caliph  Abu  Ja‘far  al-Mansur183  proposed  to 
restore  it  to  the  measurements  of  Ibn  al-Zubair,  but  Malik 
(God’s  mercy  upon  him)  dissuaded  him  from  this  project, 
saying  ‘0  Commander  of  the  Faithful,  make  not  the  House  a 
plaything  for  kings,  to  chop  and  change  as  often  as  any  of 
them  wishes  to  do  so’.  So  al-Mansur  left  it  as  it  was,  to  stay 
the  hand  of  future  generations. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  districts  neighbouring  on  Mecca, 
such  as  the  tribes  of  Bajlla,  Zahran  and  Ghamid,184  are 
zealous  in  attending  the  ‘Umra  of  Rajab.  They  bring  to  the 

180  See  p.  206,  n.  80. 

181  I.e.  when  rebuilding  the  Ka'ba  after  a  fire  about  a.d.  590,  they  had 
left  the  semicircular  end  outside  the  building,  and  merely  marked  its 
original  limits  by  the  low  wall  of  the  hijr. 

182  Literally,  ‘the  short  time  since  their  adherence  to  infidelity’,  quoting  a 
phrase  which,  according  to  tradition,  Muhammad  addressed  to  ‘A’isha: 
‘Were  it  not  for  the  shortness  of  time  since  thy  people  were  in  infidelity,  I 
would  pull  down  the  Ka'ba  and  rebuild  it.’ 

183  See  p.  207,  n.  83. 

184  Southern  Arab  tribes  which  occupied  the  hill  country  ( Sarat ,  see 

236 


TRIBES  OF  AL-SARW 


city  quantities  of  grain,  melted  butter,  honey,  raisins,  oil 
and  almonds,  with  the  result  that  the  prices  are  lowered  in 
Mecca,  its  citizens  enjoy  a  comfortable  life  and  luxuries  are 
within  the  reach  of  all.  Were  it  not  for  the  people  of  these 
districts,  the  lot  of  the  Meccans  would  be  hard  indeed.  It 
is  said  that  whenever  the  tribesmen  remain  in  their  own 
countries,  without  |  bringing  these  provisions,  their  lands  are  386 
stricken  with  drought  and  the  murrain185  breaks  out  amongst 
their  animals;  but  when  they  convey  the  provisions  their 
lands  become  fruitful  and  yield  in  plenty186  and  their  herds 
increase.  Consequently  if,  when  the  time  comes  round  for 
them  to  transport  their  provisions,  they  are  overtaken  by 
neglect  of  it,  their  women-folk  assemble  and  force  them  to  go 
out.  This  is  one  of  the  favours  due  to  the  bounty  of  God  Most 
High  and  His  solicitude  for  His  sure  city. 

The  territories  of  al-Sarw187  which  are  inhabited  by 
Bajlla,  Zahran,  Ghamid,  and  other  tribes,  is  fertile,  producing 
large  quantities  of  grapes  and  abundant  crops.  Its  inhabitants 
are  eloquent  of  tongue  and  [notwithstanding  their  rude 
ways]  sincere  in  motive  and  possessed  of  genuine  religious 
conviction.  For  it  is  their  practice  when  they  make  the  circuit 
of  the  Ka'ba,  to  throw  themselves  impetuously  upon  it, 
seeking  the  refuge  of  its  protection,  clinging  to  its  coverings188 
and  uttering  supplications  with  a  touchingness  at  which  the 
hearts  [of  all  hearers]  are  riven,  and  even  stony  eyes  are  filled 
with  tears,  so  that  you  see  those  who  stand  around  them 
stretching  out  |  their  hands  and  saying  ‘Amen’  to  their  387 
prayers.  It  is  impossible  for  anyone  else  to  make  the  circuit 
along  with  them,  or  to  touch  the  Stone,  because  of  the  way 
they  jostle  one  another  in  the  performance  of  these  rites. 
They  are  brave  and  strong,  and  wear  garments  of  skins.  When 
they  come  up  to  Mecca  the  bedouin  Arabs  on  their  route 


n.  187  below)  to  the  south-east  and  south  of  Mecca.  Zahran  and  Ghamid  are 
still  among  the  leading  tribes  in  ‘  Asir. 

185  Reading,  with  Ibn  Jubair,  al-mutan  for  al-mawt  (‘death’). 

186  Literally,  ‘blessing  becomes  manifest  in  them’. 

187  Usually  called  by  the  feminine  form,  al-Sarat,  ‘the  highlands’;  in  par¬ 
ticular  the  ranges  from  eastwards  of  Mecca  southwards  to  Najran,  the  nor¬ 
thern  outpost  of  the  Yaman. 

188  Ibn  Jubair  adds  ‘so  that  wherever  their  hands  get  a  grip  of  them  they 
are  torn  to  shreds  by  the  roughness  with  which  they  pull  on  them’. 

237 


MECCA 


stand  in  fear  of  their  approach  and  keep  out  of  their  way,  but 
those  who  come  on  pilgrimage  as  their  fellow-travellers 
speak  highly  of  their  company.  It  is  told  that  the  Prophet 
(God  bless  and  give  him  peace)  made  mention  of  them  and 
praised  them  highly,  saying:  Teach  them  how  to  make  the 
ritual  of  prayer,  and  they  will  teach  you  how  to  make  sup¬ 
plication/  But  [even  were  there  nothing  else]  it  would  be 
honour  enough  for  them  to  be  included  within  the  general 
terms  of  his  saying  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace):  ‘Faith  is 
of  Yaman,  and  Wisdom  is  of  Yaman/  It  is  related  also  that 
‘Abdallah  b.  ‘Omar189  (God  be  pleased  with  both)  used  to 
choose  the  time  of  their  making  the  circuit  [as  the  most  pro¬ 
pitious]  and  to  join  with  them,  seeking  a  blessing  by  their 
supplications.  Everything  about  them  is  really  extraordinary, 
and  the  following  saying  is  reported  in  a  tradition:  ‘Compete 
with  them  in  the  circuit,  for  God’s  mercy  is  poured  out  upon 
them  with  pouring/  | 

388  Their  practice  on  the  night  of  mid-Sha‘ban.190  This  is  one  of 
the  nights  held  in  veneration  by  the  people  of  Mecca,  in 
which  they  zealously  betake  themselves  to  pious  works,  such 
as  making  the  circuit,  praying  in  groups  or  singly,  and  per¬ 
forming  the  ‘Umra.  They  assemble  in  the  Sacred  Mosque  in 
groups,  each  group  with  an  imam,  and  light  lamps,  small  and 
large,  and  torches;  the  beams  of  the  moon  forming  a  counter¬ 
part  to  this,  earth  and  heaven  alike  aglow  with  light.  They 
make  a  prayer  of  a  hundred  bowings,  reciting  at  each  bowing 
the  Mother-chapter191  and  the  Chapter  of  Assertion  of  the 
Unity,192  repeating  them  over  ten  times  each.  Some  persons 
pray  individually  in  the  Hijr,  some  make  the  circuit  of  the 
illustrious  House,  while  others  have  previously  gone  out  to 
perform  the  ‘Umra. 

Their  practice  in  the  month  of  Ramadan  the  Exalted .  When 

389  the  new  moon  of  Ramadan  appears,  |  the  drums  and  kettle¬ 
drums  are  beaten  at  the  house  of  the  amir  of  Mecca,  and 
great  preparations  are  made  in  the  Sacred  Mosque  by  way  of 

189  Son  of  the  second  caliph  ‘Omar  b.  al-Khattab,  d.  693;  see  p.  167, 
n.  48. 

190  See  p.  46,  n.  139. 

191  The  first  Sura  of  the  Qur’an  ( al-Fatiha ),  known  as  ‘the  Mother  of  the 
Book’. 

192  Sura  cxii  ( al-Ikhlds  = ‘single-minded  devotion’). 

238 


CEREMONIES  IN  RAMADAN 

renewing  the  mats  and  augmenting  the  number  of  candles 
and  torches,  until  the  Sanctuary  gleams  with  light  and  glows, 
radiant  and  resplendent.  The  imams  form  separate  groups 
[each  with  the  followers  of  his  own  rite],  that  is  to  say,  the 
Shah' Is,  Hanafls,  Hanballs,  and  Zaidis;193  as  for  the  Malikis, 
they  collect  round  four  reciters,  who  take  it  in  turn  to  recite 
the  Qur’an,  and  light  candles.  There  is  not  a  corner  or  spot 
left  in  the  Sanctuary  but  it  is  occupied  by  some  Qur’an- 
reciter  leading  a  group  in  prayer,  so  that  the  mosque  is  filled 
with  a  babel  of  readers’  voices,  and  all  spirits  are  softened,  all 
hearts  wrung,194  and  all  eyes  bathed  in  tears.  Some  persons, 
however,  restrict  themselves  to  making  the  circuit  and  to 
solitary  prayer  in  the  Hijr.  The  Shafi'Is  are  the  most  zealous 
of  the  imams  in  their  devotional  exercises.  It  is  their  practice 
that,  after  completing  the  customary  night-prayers,195  of 
twenty  bowings,  their  imam  makes  the  circuit  of  the  Ka'ba 
together  with  his  congregation.  |  At  the  end  of  the  sevenfold  39o 
circuit,  the  farqa1  a — the  object  which  we  have  mentioned  as 
being  carried  before  the  preacher  on  Fridays196 — is  sounded. 
This  is  a  signal  to  resume  the  prayers.  The  imam  then  per¬ 
forms  a  prayer  of  two  bowings  and  after  that  makes  a 
sevenfold  circuit,  and  so  on  until  he  completes  twenty  addi¬ 
tional  bowings  [with  his  congregation] ,  when  they  pray  the 
'even’  and  the  ‘odd’197  and  disperse.  The  rest  of  the  imams 
make  no  addition  whatever  to  the  customary  [prayers]. 

.  When  the  time  comes  for  taking  the  last  meal  before 
dawn198  the  muezzin  of  Zamzam  has  the  duty  of  announcing 
its  hour  from  the  minaret  which  is  at  the  eastern  angle  of  the 
Sanctuary.  He  takes  up  the  call,  summoning,  reminding, 
and  urging  [all  men]  to  make  their  early  repast,  followed  by 
the  muezzins  on  the  remaining  minarets  [in  a  kind  of  chant]; 
when  one  of  them  recites,  his  neighbour  responds  to  him. 
There  is  also  erected  on  the  top  of  each  minaret  a  post  with  a 

193  See  p.  182,  n.  103. 

194  Reading  tahsuru  for  tahduru. 

195  The  special  night-prayers  ( tarawlh )  observed  during  the  month  of 
fasting  (Ramadan). 

196  See  p.  231  above. 

197  Two  supplementary  bowings  followed  by  a  third,  prescribed  or  re¬ 
commended  by  the  different  legal  schools  after  the  special  night-prayers. 

198  The  sahur,  before  beginning  the  day’s  fast  at  daybreak. 

239 


R 


T.O.I.B. 


MECCA 


crosspiece  at  its  head,  on  which  are  suspended  two  great  glass 
lanterns.  These  are  kept  alight  [during  the  hour  of  the  sahur ], 

391  and  when  the  hour  of  dawn  approaches  |  and  the  warning  to 
cease  from  eating  has  been  issued  time  after  time,  the  two 
lanterns  are  lowered,  and  the  muezzins  begin  the  call  to 
prayer,  responding  one  to  the  other.  The  houses  of  Mecca 
(God  ennoble  her)  have  terraced  roofs,  so  that  those  whose 
houses  are  at  such  a  distance  that  they  cannot  hear  the  call 
to  prayer  are  able  to  see  these  two  lanterns,  and  may  con¬ 
tinue  to  make  their  meal  until,  on  seeing  them  no  longer,  they 
cease  from  eating. 

In  every  odd  night  of  the  last  ten  nights  of  Ramadan  they 
‘seal’  the  Qur’an.199  The  ceremony  is  attended  by  the  qadi, 
the  scholars  and  the  notables,  and  the  person  who  reads  the 
last  portion  to  them  is  one  of  the  sons  of  the  notables  of  Mecca. 
When  he  ends  the  reading,  a  rostrum  is  put  up  for  him, 
adorned  with  silk,  candles  are  lit,  and  he  delivers  an  address. 
At  the  conclusion  of  his  address,  his  father  invites  those 
present  to  his  house,  where  he  entertains  them  with  a  great 
variety  of  viands  and  sweetmeats. 

This  they  do  on  the  eves  of  all  the  odd  days  [in  the  last 

392  decade  of  the  month],  but  the  most  solemn  |  of  these  nights 
with  them  is  the  eve  of  the  twentv-seventh,  and  their  celebra- 
tion  of  it  is  more  elaborate  than  their  celebration  of  the 
other  nights.  The  Glorious  Qur’an  is  'sealed’  on  this  occasion 
behind  the  holy  Station  [of  Abraham]  and  opposite  the  en¬ 
closure  of  the  Shafi'ites  there  is  put  up  [a  stand,  formed  of] 
large  wooden  beams,200  extending  [across  the  breadth  of  the 
Sanctuary]  as  far  as  this  enclosure.  [Strong  wooden  traverses 
are  attached  to  the  beams]  and  long  planks  are  laid  between 
them  [on  these  traverses],  the  whole  forming  three  stories. 
On  these  are  placed  candles  [on  the  upper  story]  and  glass 
lanterns  [on  the  two  lower  stories],  so  that  the  dazzling  rays 
of  the  lights  all  but  blind  the  eyes.  The  imam  then  comes 

199  Although  Lailat  al-Qadr,  the  ‘Night  of  Destiny’  (see  n.  201  below),  is 
usually  commemorated  on  27th  Ramadan,  early  tradition  is  uncertain 
which  of  the  odd  nights  of  the  last  third  of  the  month  is  the  actual  night. 
For  ‘sealing’,  i.e.  reciting  the  whole  of  the  Qur'an,  see  p.  1 53,  n.  318. 

200  The  words  in  square  brackets  are  from  Ibn  Jubair,  the  passage  having 
been  so  drastically  abridged  as  to  be  unintelligible  in  Ibn  Battuta’s  text. 
For  the  enclosure  of  the  Shafi'ites  see  p.  230. 

240 


RELIGIOUS  CEREMONIES 


forward  and  performs  the  prescribed  last  prayer  for  the 
evening.  After  this  he  begins  to  recite  the  Chapter  of  Des¬ 
tiny,201  this  being  the  chapter  to  which  the  recital  of  the 
imams  would  have  reached  in  the  previous  night.  At  that 
moment  all  the  imams  interrupt  their  night-prayers,202  in 
respect  for  the  ‘sealing  of  the  Station’,  and  themselves 
attend  it  to  profit  by  the  blessing.  The  imam  completes  the 
recitation  [by  reciting  the  last  suras]  in  the  course  of  four 
bowings  and  after  doing  so  stands  up  to  deliver  an  address, 
with  his  face  towards  the  Station.  When  he  concludes  the 
address,  the  imams  return  to  their  night-prayers,  and  the 
assembly  disperses.  Finally  there  is  the  ‘Sealing’  on  the  eve  of 
the  twenty-ninth,  |  [which  takes  place]  in  the  Malikite  393 
oratory,203  with  a  modest  show.  The  Qur’an  is  sealed  and  an 
address  is  delivered,  [nothing  more]. 

Their  practice  in  Shawwdl.  It  is  their  practice  in  Shawwal, 
being  the  initial  month  of  the  [four]  ‘recognized’  months  of 
the  Pilgrimage,204  to  kindle  torches  on  the  night  of  its  new 
moon,  and  to  light  lamps  and  candles  [in  the  Sanctuary] 
much  as  they  do  on  the  eve  of  the  twenty-seventh  of 
Ramadan.  Lamps  are  lit  also  on  the  minarets,  on  all  sides  of 
them,205  and  both  the  entire  roof  of  the  Sanctuary  and  the 
roof  of  the  mosque  which  is  on  top  of  Abu  Qubais  are 
illuminated.  The  muezzins  spend  the  whole  of  that  night  in 
reciting  formulas  of  praise  to  God,206  while  the  people  are 
variously  engaged  in  making  the  circuit,  praying,  reciting 
hymns  of  praise,  or  making  supplications.  When  they  have 
performed  the  dawn  prayer,  they  set  about  making  prepara¬ 
tions  for  the  Feast,207  dress  in  their  finest  clothes,  and  hasten 

201  Sura  xcvii:  ‘Verily,  We  caused  it  to  descend  on  the  Night  of  Destiny. 
And  what  hath  told  thee  the  meaning  of  the  Night  of  Destiny?  The  Night 
of  Destiny  is  better  than  a  thousand  nights.  Therein  descend  the  angels  and 
the  Spirit  by  the  Will  of  thy  Lord  by  reason  of  every  command.  Peace  it  is 
until  the  rising  of  the  daybreak.’ 

202  Tarawlh;  see  above,  n.  195. 

203  See  p.  231  above. 

204  The  term  ‘recognized’  ( ma'lumat )  is  quoted  from  Qur’an,  xxii,  28, 
relating  to  the  Pilgrimage. 

206  Probably  a  slip  for  ‘on  all  sides  of  it’  (i.e.  the  sanctuary),  as  in  Ibn 
Jubair. 

206  Literally,  ‘in  repeating  “There  is  no  god  but  God’’  and  “God  is  most 
Great’’  and  "Magnified  be  God’’  '. 

207  I.e.  of  the  Fast-breaking;  see  p.  14,  n.  27. 

24I 


MECCA 


394  to  take  their  places  [for  prayers]  |  in  the  illustrious  Sanctuary. 
It  is  there  that  they  perform  the  festival  prayer,208  for  there 
is  no  place  more  excellent  than  it.  The  members  of  the  Shaiba 
family  are  the  first  to  reach  the  mosque  in  the  morning,  when 
they  open  the  door  of  the  sanctified  Ka'ba  and  their  chief 
remains  sitting  on  its  threshold,  with  the  other  members 
standing  before  him,  until  the  amir  of  Mecca  arrives.  They  go 
forward  to  receive  him,  and  he  makes  a  sevenfold  circuit  of 
the  House,  while  the  muezzin  of  Zamzam  stands  on  the  roof 
of  the  Zamzam  pavilion  as  usual,  raising  his  voice  in  pane¬ 
gyrics  of  him  and  prayers  for  him  and  for  his  brother,  as 
has  already  been  described.209  Then  the  preacher  advances 
between  two  black  banners,  preceded  by  the  farqaa,210  and 
himself  dressed  in  black.  He  performs  the  prayer  behind  the 
holy  Station,  then  ascends  the  mimbar  and  delivers  an 
eloquent  allocution.  Then,  when  he  concludes  it,  the  people 
turn  to  one  another  with  greetings,  handclasps,  and  prayers 
for  the  forgiveness  of  sins,  approach  the  illustrious  Ka‘ba, 

395  and  enter  it  in  troops.  Subsequently  |  they  go  out  to  the 
cemetery  at  the  Mafia  gate,211  to  obtain  blessing  through  [the 
visitation]  of  those  who  rest  in  it  of  the  Companions  and 
eminent  men  of  the  early  generations  of  Islam,  after  which 
they  disperse. 

The  Sacralization  of  the  Ka‘ba  212  On  the  twenty-seventh 
day  of  Dhufi-Qa‘da,  the  curtains  of  the  illustrious  Ka'ba 
(God  increase  it  in  veneration)  are  girt  up  to  the  height  of 
about  nine  feet  on  all  four  sides,  in  order  to  protect  them 
from  men’s  hands,  lest  they  should  appropriate  them.  They 
call  this  ceremony  The  sacralization  of  the  Ka'ba’,  and  it  is  a 
day  on  which  there  is  a  large  concourse  in  the  illustrious 
Sanctuary.  The  sanctified  Ka'ba  is  not  opened  again  from 
that  day  until  the  Standing  at  ‘Arafa  is  accomplished. 

The  rites  and  acts  of  the  Pilgrimage.  On  the  first  day  of  the 
month  of  Dhufi-Hijja  the  drums  and  kettledrums  are  sounded 

396  at  the  hours  of  prayer  and  in  the  morning  and  evening,  |  to 
mark  the  blessed  festival  season,  and  they  continued  to  be  so 

208  Instead  of  holding  them  in  a  special  Musalld ;  see  p.  13,  n.  20. 

209  See  p.  233  above. 

210  See  p.  231  above. 

211  See  p.  206  above;  for  the  visiting  of  cemeteries,  see  p.  46,  n.  138. 

212 1.e.  draping  it  for  the  rites  of  the  Pilgrimage. 

242 


PILGRIMAGE  RITES 


sounded  until  the  day  of  the  ascent  to  ‘Arafat.213  On  the 
seventh  of  Dhu’l-Hijja  the  preacher,  after  the  noon  prayer, 
delivers  an  eloquent  address,  in  which  he  instructs  the 
people  in  the  ceremonies  which  they  are  to  perform  and  gives 
them  notice  of  the  day  of  the  Standing  [at  ‘Arafa].  On  the 
eighth  day,  the  people  set  out  early  on  the  ascent  to  Mina. 
The  amirs  from  Egypt,  Syria  and  al-Traq  and  the  learned 
spend  that  night  at  Mina,  and  there  is  a  contest  of  ostentation 
and  magnificence  between  the  Egyptian,  Syrian,  and  ‘Iraqi 
contingents  by  the  lighting  of  candles,  but  the  palm  for  this 
always  goes  to  the  Syrians. 

On  the  ninth  day  they  start  out  from  Mina  for  ‘Arafa  after 
the  dawn  prayer,  and  on  their  way  pass  through  [a  ravine 
called]  Wadi  Muhassir,  where  they  quicken  their  pace,  that 
being  a  sunna.21i  Wadi  Muhassir  is  the  boundary  between 
Muzdalifa  and  Mina.  Muzdalifa  is  a  wide  flat  piece  of  ground  | 
between  two  mountains,  and  surrounded  by  covered  cisterns  397 
and  water  tanks  which  form  part  of  those  constructed  by 
Zubaida,  daughter  of  Ja‘far  b.  Abu  Ja‘far  al-Mansur,  and 
wife  of  the  Commander  of  the  Faithful  Harun  al-Rashld.215 
From  Mina  to  ‘Arafa  is  five  miles,  and  so  also  from  Mina  to 
Mecca  is  five  miles.  ‘Arafa  has  three  names:  ‘Arafa,  Jam‘, 
and  al-Mash‘ar  al-Haram.216  ‘Arafa  is  a  wide  and  ample  plain, 
surrounded  by  numerous  mountains,  and  at  the  far  end  of  the 
plain  of  ‘Arafat  is  the  Hill  of  Mercy.  It  is  on  this  and  the  area 

213  Ibn  Battuta  uses  both  forms  of  the  name,  ‘Arafa  and  ‘Arafat,  but 
seems  to  imply  by  the  former  the  ‘Hill  of  Mercy’  and  by  the  latter  the  plain 
south  -westward  of  it;  see  p.  244  below. 

214  I. e.  practice  traditionally  handed  down  as  a  practice  of  the  Prophet. 

For  Wadi  Muhassir,  a  narrow  ravine  to  the  east  of  Mina,  see  Rutter,  Holy 
Cities,  I,  155-6. 

215  The  Lady  Zubaida,  a  prominent  figure  in  the  history  of  Harun 
al-Rashld,  is  especially  celebrated  for  the  construction  of  an  aqueduct  which 
brought  water  to  Mecca  from  the  eastward  ranges,  and  of  cisterns  on  the 
Pilgrim  Road  from  Kufa  to  Faid,  which  is  still  called  by  her  name,  the  Darb 
Zubaida ;  cf.  pp.  251,  254  below. 

216  This  is  a  curious  error,  due  to  a  misreading  of  Ibn  Jubair  (p.  172, 
8-9).  The  Mash'ar  al-Haram  (i.e.  ‘Sacred  Symbol’)  is  an  ancient  sanctuary  at 
Muzdalifa  on  a  hill  formerly  dedicated  to  Quzah,  the  god  of  lightning;  it  is 
mentioned  two  pages  below.  A  mosque  was  built  near  the  old  tower  on  which 
the  sacred  fire  was  kindled,  and  the  practice  of  illumination  during  the 
Pilgrimage  was  transferred  to  it.  The  name  Jam ‘  or  ‘Assembly’  was  later 
extended  to  the  whole  stretch  from  Mina  to  ‘Arafat.  On  the  Mash'ar  al- 
Haram,  see  Rutter,  Holy  Cities ,  I,  165-7. 

243 


MECCA 


around  it  that  the  Standing217  is  made.  The  two  pillars  are 
passed  about  a  mile  before  reaching  it,  and  mark  the  boun¬ 
dary  between  sacred  and  profane  territory.  Close  by  them  is 
the  Bottom  of  ‘Urana,  the  place  beyond  which,  according  to 
the  instructions  of  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace),  pilgrims  must  proceed.  One  must  be  careful  about 
this,  and  one  must  also  refrain  from  the  ‘rushing  down’218 
until  the  disappearance  of  the  sun  behind  the  horizon  is 
complete,  because  the  camel-drivers  frequently  try  to  urge  a 
number  of  people  [to  get  away  early],  and  by  putting  them 
398  in  fear  of  the  jostling  during  the  rush  |  beguile  them  on  until 
they  bring  them  into  the  Bottom  of  ‘Urana,  and  so  their 
pilgrimage  is  nullified.  The  Hill  of  Mercy,  of  which  we  have 
spoken,  stands  in  the  middle  of  the  plain  of  Jam‘,219  isolated 
from  the  [surrounding]  mountains,  and  consists  of  detached 
boulders.  On  top  of  it  is  a  dome  attributed  to  Umm  Salama220 
(God  be  pleased  with  her),  and  in  the  centre  of  this  is  a 
mosque,  to  pray  in  which  there  is  great  competition  amongst 
the  pilgrims.  Encircling  the  mosque  is  a  wide  terrace,  which 
overlooks  the  plain  of  ‘Arafat.  On  its  qibla  side221  is  a  wall  in 
which  several  mihrdbs  have  been  constructed;  the  pilgrims 
perform  a  prayer  in  these.  At  the  foot  of  this  hill,  to  the  left  of 
one  who  faces  the  Ka‘ba,  is  a  building  of  ancient  construc¬ 
tion,  attributed  to  Adam  (upon  him  be  peace).222  To  the  left 
of  it  again  are  the  rocks  beside  which  was  the  alighting  place 
of  the  Prophet  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace),  and  round 
about  this  spot  are  basins  and  wells  for  holding  water.  Nearby 

217  The  Standing  ( wuqiif )  at  ‘Arafat,  eastward  of  the  Bottom  of  ‘Urana, 
during  the  afternoon  of  9th  Dhu’l-Hijja,  while  the  sermons  are  being  de¬ 
livered  from  Jabal  ‘Arafa  (the  Hill  of  Mercy),  is  the  essential  element  of  the 
Pilgrimage,  and  without  it  no  pilgrimage  is  regarded  as  valid.  It  will  be 
noted  that  Jabal  ‘Arafa  itself  is  actually  outside  the  limits  of  the  sacred 
territory. 

218  The  ‘rushing-down’  [if add)  at  the  close  of  the  ceremonies  at  ‘Arafa  is 
described  below. 

219  ‘Of  Jam"  is  an  addition  to  the  text  of  Ibn  Jubair  by  Ibn  Battuta;  see 
above,  n.  216. 

220  One  of  Muhammad's  wives,  the  widow  of  a  Meccan  adherent  who  died 
of  wounds  received  in  the  battle  of  Uhud  (see  p.  181,  n.  99). 

221  Here  obviously  not  south,  but  west. 

222  The  mosque  of  Namira  (so  called  from  the  name  of  one  of  the  sur¬ 
rounding  mountains;  Rutter  calls  it  ‘Mesjid  Nimra');  its  construction  is  also 
attributed  to  Abraham.  See  Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  Le  ptterinage  de  la 
Mecque,  245-6. 


244 


‘arafa 


is  the  place  in  which  the  imam  halts  and  preaches  and  com¬ 
bines  the  noon  and  afternoon  prayers  [before  the  beginning 
of  the  ‘Standing’].  To  the  left  of  the  two  pillars,  still  as  one 
faces  [the  Ka‘ba]  |  is  Wadi’l-Arak,  in  which  there  are  green  399 
arak223  bushes  extending  over  the  ground  for  a  great  distance. 
When  the  time  comes  for  the  rush,224  the  Malikite  imam 
signals  with  his  hand  and  descends  from  his  place.  At  once 
the  multitude  thrusts  forward  in  the  rush  with  a  single  surge 
at  which  the  earth  shakes  and  the  hills  tremble.  0  holy  station 
and  exalted  place  of  visitation,  to  gain  whose  happy  issue  is 
all  souls’  desire,  towards  the  effusions  of  whose  mercy  all 
men’s  hopes  aspire,  God  grant  we  be  of  those  whom  He  singles 
out  there  with  His  approbation. 

The  date  of  my  first  ‘Standing’  [at  ‘Arafa]  was  a  Thursday, 
in  the  year  [seven  hundred  and]  twenty-six,225  the  com¬ 
mander  of  the  Egyptian  caravan  at  that  time  being  Arghun 
the  dawadar,226  the  lieutenant  of  al-Malik  al-NasIr.  In  the 
same  year,  the  daughter  of  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  wife  of  this 
Arghun’s  son  Abu  Bakr,  came  on  pilgrimage,  and  likewise 
the  wife  of  al-Malik  al-Nasir,  called  al-Khunda,  she  being  the 
daughter  of  the  exalted  Sultan  Muhammad  Uzbak,  king  of 
al-Sara  |  and  Khawarazm.227  The  commander  of  the  Syrian  4oo 
caravan  was  Saif  al-Din  al-Juban.228 

When  the  rush  took  place  after  sunset,  we  reached  Muz- 
dalifa  at  the  time  of  the  last  night  prayer,  and  performed 
there  the  sunset  and  night  prayers  combined,  in  accordance 
with  the  sunna  of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him 
peace).  When  we  had  performed  the  dawn  prayer  at  Muz- 
dalifa,  we  went  on  next  morning  to  Mina,  after  the  ‘halt’  and 
supplication  made  at  al-Mash‘ar  al-Haram.229  The  whole  of 
Muzdalifa  is  a  place  of  halting,  except  Wadi  Muhassir,  for  in 
the  latter  the  pilgrims  observe  the  ‘quickening  of  the  pace’ 

223  See  p.  216,  n.  118. 

224  See  above,  n.  218. 

228  6  November  1326. 

226  See  p.  54,  n.  168. 

227  Sultan  of  the  Golden  Horde,  reigned  1312-41.  His  daughter  Tulunbeg 
(Dulunbiya)  was  married  to  al-Nasir  in  1320,  but  divorced  by  him  eight 
years  later. 

228  Juban  al-Mansuri,  d.  at  Damascus  in  1328  (not  to  be  confused  with  the 
Mongol  noble  of  the  same  name,  killed  in  the  same  year;  see  p.  109,  n.  157). 

229  See  p.  243,  n.  216. 


245 


MECCA 


until  they  emerge  from  it.230  From  Muzdalifa  the  majority  of 
the  pilgrims  [collect  and]  carry  with  them  the  pebbles  for  the 
stoning,231  and  this  is  indeed  recommended,  but  there  are 
some  who  pick  them  up  around  the  Mosque  of  al-Khaif.232 
The  usage  in  this  respect  is  wide.  When  the  pilgrims  arrived 
at  length  at  Mina,  they  went  at  once  to  [perform  the  rite  of] 
the  throwing  of  the  stones  at  the  ‘Pillar  of  the  Defile’,  which 
done  they  offered  up  their  sacrifices  of  camels  or  sheep.233 
Thereafter  they  shaved  their  heads  and  became  free  of  all 
401  things  except  women  |  and  perfume  [from  which  they  are 
bound  to  abstain]  until  they  perform  the  ‘circuit  of  the  out¬ 
pouring’.234  The  stoning  of  this  pillar  is  done  at  sunrise  on  the 
Day  of  Sacrifice.235  When  they  had  thrown  their  stones  at  it, 
the  majority  of  the  pilgrims,  after  slaughtering  [their  animals] 
and  shaving  their  heads,  proceeded  to  [Mecca  to  execute]  the 
‘circuit  of  the  outpouring’,  but  there  were  some  ’who  stayed 
[at  Mina]  till  the  following  day.  On  the  second  day  of  the 
Festival  the  pilgrims  [having  returned  to  Mina  the  previous 
evening]  threw  at  the  hour  of  declension  of  the  sun  seven 
pebbles  at  the  ‘First  Pillar’  and  a  like  number  at  the  ‘Middle 
Pillar’  [and  the  Pillar  of  the  Defile],  and  stood  for  a  moment 
to  make  an  invocation  at  these  two  pillars  [but  not  at  the 
third],  following  the  example  set  by  the  Apostle  of  God  (God 
bless  and  give  him  peace).  On  the  third  day  the  people  made 
haste  to  go  down  to  Mecca  (God  ennoble  her),  after  [throwing 
seven  pebbles  at  each  of  the  pillars  again  and  thus]  having 

230  See  p.  243  above. 

231  For  the  throwing  of  the  pebbles  at  the  three  pillars  ( al - Jamardt )  on  the 
days  following  the  ceremonies  at  ‘Arafat,  see  Rutter,  Holy  Cities,  I,  170-85, 
and  Gaudefroy-Demombynes,  Le  ptterinage,  268-76;  also  the  article 
‘Djamra’  in  E.I.  Muslim  tradition  associated  the  stonings  with  Abraham’s 
stoning  of  the  devil  at  the  time  of  his  intended  sacrifice  of  Ishmael  (in  the 
Muslim  view),  but  the  rites  are  certainly  pre-Islamic. 

232  The  Masjid  al-Khaif  at  Mina,  an  ancient  enclosure  refitted  as  a  mosque, 
was  by  some  traditionists  regarded  as  the  tomb  of  Adam. 

233  Literally  ‘stabbed  [camels]  in  the  pit  of  the  throat  and  severed  the 
jugular  vein  [of  sheep  and  goats]'. 

234  Tawaf  al-ifada,  the  latter  word  being  the  same  as  that  used  to  describe 
the  ‘rushing-down’  from  ‘Arafat  (see  p.  244,  n.  218).  This  circuit  of  the  Ka‘ba 
on  the  10th  day  of  the  month  technically  completes  the  Pilgrimage,  and 
constitutes  the  rite  of  desacralization. 

235  The  10th  of  Dhu’l-Hijja,  so  named  from  the  sacrifices  just  mentioned. 
This  is  the  first  day  of  the  Festival  of  the  Pilgrimage  (‘ Id  al-Adhd,  or  Greater 
Bairam) . 


246 


THE  CURTAIN  OF  THE  KA(BA 


completed  the  throwing  of  forty-nine  stones,  but  many  of 
them  remained  during  the  third  day  after  the  Day  of  Sacrifice 
until  they  had  thrown  seventy  stones.236 

The  curtain  of  the  Kaba.  On  the  Day  of  Sacrifice  the  [new] 
curtain  of  the  illustrious  Ka’ba  is  conveyed  |  from  the  [head-  402 
quarters  of  the]  Egyptian  caravan  to  the  Holy  House  and 
laid  on  its  roof.  Then,  on  the  third  day  after  the  Day  of 
Sacrifice,  the  Shaibls237  set  about  draping  it  over  the  illus¬ 
trious  Ka‘ba.  It  is  a  jet-black  covering  of  silk  lined  with 
linen,  and  at  the  top  end  of  it  is  an  embroidered  band  on 
which  is  written  in  white  [lettering]:  God  hath  established  the 
Ka‘ba,  the  Sacred  House,  to  be  a  Station  and  so  on,  to  the  end 
of  the  verse.238  On  all  sides  of  it  are  embroidered  bands  having 
verses  of  the  Qur’an  inscribed  upon  them  in  white,  with  a 
glistening  radiance  which  glows  out  against  the  black  back¬ 
ground  of  the  curtain.  When  it  has  been  adjusted,  its  ends  are 
looped  up,  as  a  protection  against  mens’  hands.239  Al-Malik 
al-Nasir  is  [the  ruler]240  who  has  the  charge  of  providing  the 
curtain  of  the  Ka‘ba,  he  also  sends  the  emoluments  of  the 
qadl,  preacher,  imams,  muezzins,  mosque-servitors  and  over¬ 
seers,  and  all  the  requirements  of  the  illustrious  Sanctuary  in 
candles  and  oil  every  year. 

During  this  period  |  the  illustrious  Ka‘ba  is  open  every  day  4o3 
for  the  benefit  of  the  ‘Iraqis,  Khurasanls,  and  others  who 
come  with  the  ‘Iraqi  caravan,  while  they  continue  to  stay  at 
Mecca  for  four  days  after  the  departure  of  the  Syrian  and 
Egyptian  caravans.  Meanwhile  they  make  lavish  distribution 
of  alms  to  the  sojourners  and  others;  I  have  indeed  seen  them 
going  round  the  Sanctuary  by  night  and  making  gifts  of  silver 

236  I.e.  to  the  13th  of  the  month.  This  was  the  old  usage,  but  permission 
to  reduce  the  period  to  two  days  is  expressly  given  in  the  Qur’an  (Sura  ii, 
203):  ‘And  whoso  hasteneth  in  two  days,  it  is  no  sin  in  him,  and  whoso 
delayeth,  it  is  no  sin  in  him.’  The  Malikites  generally  took  advantage  of  this 
permission  to  return  to  Mecca  on  the  third  day,  and  Ibn  Jubair  gives  it  to 
be  understood  that  in  his  time  all  the  pilgrims  did  so,  owing  to  the  frequent 
clashes  at  Mina  between  the  black  troops  of  Mecca  and  the  Turkish  troops 
from  ‘Iraq. 

237  See  p.  195,  n.  28. 

238  Qur’an,  v,  98. 

239  Ibn  J  ubair  says  more  precisely  ‘against  the  hands  of  the  Persians  and 
their  vigorous  tugging’,  but  ‘Persians’  ( a'ajim )  is  probably  a  scribal  error 
for  ‘bedouins’;  see  p.  237  above. 

240  See  p.  203,  n.  68,  above. 


247 


MECCA 


and  cloth  to  all  the  sojourners  or  Meccans  whom  they  found 
in  the  Sanctuary,  and  giving  likewise  to  those  who  were 
engaged  in  contemplation  of  the  illustrious  Ka'ba.  Often  they 
find  a  man  sleeping  and  then  they  put  gold  or  silver  in  his 
mouth  until  he  awakes.  When  I  came  [to  Mecca]  with  them 
from  al-‘Iraq  in  the  year  twenty-eight,  they  did  a  great  deal  of 
this,  and  were  so  lavish  with  their  alms  that  the  price  of  gold 
depreciated  in  Mecca,  and  the  exchange  of  the  mithqal  rose  to 
eighteen  dirhams  nnqra ,241  on  account  of  the  quantity  of  gold 
404  which  they  distributed  in  charity.  |  In  that  same  year  the 
name  of  the  Sultan  Abu  Sa'id,  king  of  al-‘Iraq,  was  mentioned 
from  the  pulpit  and  the  pavilion  of  Zamzam.242 

241  See  p.  223,  n.  141.  The  normal  rate  of  exchange  was  20  dirhams  to  the 
mithqal. 

242  See  pp.  232-3  and  n.  169;  and  for  Abu  Sa'id,  Selections,  100-1. 


248 


CHAPTER  V 


From  Mecca  to  Kufa 


he  departure  from  Mecca  ( God  Most  High  ennoble  her). 


On  the  twentieth  day  precisely  of  Dhu'l-Hijja1  I  went 


JL  out  of  Mecca  in  company  with  the  commander  of  the 
caravan  of  al-'Iraq,  the  Pehlewan  Muhammad  al-Hawih,2  a 
man  of  al-Mawsil,  who  occupied  the  office  of  commander  of 
the  pilgrims  after  the  death  of  Shaikh  Shihab  al-Dln  Qalan- 
dar.  Shihab  al-Din  was  an  open-handed  and  worthy  man,  who 
was  held  in  high  honour  by  his  sultan,  and  used  to  shave  his 
beard  and  eyebrows  after  the  fashion  of  the  Qalandarls.3 
When  I  left  Mecca  (God  Most  High  ennoble  her)  in  company 
with  the  above-mentioned  amir  Pehlewan,  he  hired  for  me  the 
half  of  a  double  litter  as  far  as  Baghdad,  paying  its  cost  from 
his  own  purse,  and  took  me  under  his  protection.  We  went 
out  to  the  Bottom  of  Marr,4  after  performing  the  Farewell 
Circuit  with  a  host  of  men  of  al-‘Iraq,  Khurasan,  Fars  and 
other  eastern  lands,  of  uncountable  multitude,  [so  many  that] 
the  earth  surged  with  them  |  [as  the  sea  surges]  with  dashing  4o5 
waves  and  their  advance  was  like  the  march  of  high-piled 
clouds.  Anyone  who  left  the  caravan  for  a  natural  want  and 
had  no  mark  by  which  to  guide  himself  to  his  place  could  not 
find  it  again  for  the  vast  number  of  people.  Included  in  this 
caravan  were  many  water-carrying  camels  for  the  poorer 
pilgrims,5  who  could  obtain  drinking  water  from  them,  and 
other  camels  to  carry  provisions  [for  issue]  as  alms  and  to 
carry  medicines,  potions  and  sugar  for  those  who  should  be 
attacked  by  illness.  Whenever  the  caravan  halted  food  was 

1  17  November  1326. 

2  The  Persian  term  pahlawan  (meaning  properly  ‘hero’,  ‘athlete’)  was 
occasionally  applied  metaphorically  to  sufl  adepts.  I  have  not  identified  this 
personage. 

3  For  the  Qalandarls  see  p.  37,  n.  108. 

4  See  p.  187,  n.  125. 

6  Literally,  ‘sons  of  the  road’,  those  who  went  on  foot. 


249 


FROM  MECCA  TO  KUFA 


cooked  in  great  brass  cauldrons,  called  dasts ,6  and  supplied 
from  them  to  the  poorer  pilgrims  and  those  who  had  no 
provisions.  With  the  caravan  also  was  a  number  of  [spare] 
camels  for  the  carriage  of  those  who  were  unable  to  walk.  All 
of  this  was  due  to  the  benefactions  and  generosity  of  the 
Sultan  Abu  Sa'id. 

Ibn  Juzayy  remarks:  May  God  give  honour  to  this  illus- 

406  trious  appellation,7  for  how  |  admirable  is  its  record  of  liber¬ 
ality!  It  is  enough  to  mention  only  our  lord,  the  ocean  of 
bounties  and  uplifter  of  the  standards  of  munificence,  who 
was  an  exemplar  of  generosity  and  virtue,  the  Commander  of 
the  Muslims,  Abu  Sa'id,  son  of  our  lord,  the  smiter  of  the 
infidels  and  avenger  of  Islam,  the  Commander  of  the  Muslims 
Abu  Yusuf,8  God  sanctify  their  noble  souls  and  preserve  the 
kingship  in  their  pure  posterity  to  the  Day  of  Judgment! 

(Resumes).  This  caravan  contained  also  animated  bazaars 

and  great  supplies  of  luxuries  and  all  kinds  of  food  and  fruit. 

They  used  to  march  during  the  night  and  light  torches  in 

front  of  the  file  of  camels  and  litters,  so  that  you  saw  the 

countryside  gleaming  with  light  and  the  darkness  turned  into 

radiant  dav. 

%/ 

We  then  set  out  from  the  Bottom  of  Marr  to  'Usfan,  and 
thence  to  Khulais,  after  which  we  made  a  march  of  four 
stages  and  encamped  in  Wadi’l-Samk,  and  having  travelled 
thence  for  five  nights  encamped  at  Badr.9  Of  these  stages  two 

407  were  made  |  in  the  twenty- four  hours,  one  after  sunrise  and 
the  other  during  the  first  part  of  the  night.  After  leaving 
Badr  we  encamped  at  al-Safra,10  where  we  stayed  for  a  whole 
day  to  rest.  From  here  it  is  a  three  nights’  march  to  al- 
Madina  the  illustrious.  Resuming  our  journey,  we  at  length 
reached  Taiba,  the  City  of  the  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and 

6  Here  apparently  in  the  sense  of  ‘bowls’.  The  same  word  has  been  applied 
to  plates  manufactured  at  Ba'albek;  p.  1 17  above. 

7  Abu  Sa'id  means,  literally,  ‘Father  of  the  Felicitous’. 

8  The  Marinid  sultan  of  Morocco  Abu  Sa'id  ‘Othman  II  (1310-31)  and  his 
father  Abu  Yusuf  Ya'qub  (1258-86),  grandfather  and  great-grandfather  of 
the  reigning  sultan  Abu  ‘Inan.  The  first  Marinid  sultans  did  not  adopt  the 
Caliphial  style  of  ‘Commander  of  the  Faithful’,  but  took  instead  the  style  of 
the  early  Almohads,  ‘Commander  of  the  Muslims’;  see  Ibn  Juzayy’s  Intro¬ 
duction,  p.  3,  n.  9. 

9  See  pp.  185-6,  nn.  121,  115. 

10  See  p.  185,  n.  113. 


250 


FROM  MECCA  TO  AL-HAJIR 

give  him  peace),  and  were  privileged  to  visit  once  again  the 
[tomb  of  the]  Apostle  of  God  (God  bless  and  give  him  peace). 

"We  stayed  at  al-Madlna  (God  Most  High  glorify  her)  for 
six  days,  and  taking  with  us  from  there  water  for  a  three 
nights’  journey,  we  set  out  from  her.  On  the  third  night  we 
encamped  at  Wadi’l-'Arus,11  where  we  provided  ourselves 
with  water  from  underground  water-beds.  They  dig  holes 
above  them  in  the  ground,  and  procure  sweet  flowing  water. 
We  then  left  Wadi’l-'Arus  and  entered  the  land  of  the  Najd, 
which  is  a  level  stretch  of  country  [extending]  as  far  as  eye 
can  see,  and  inhaled  its  sweet-scented  air.12  We  halted  after 
covering  four  stages  at  a  water-point  known  as  al-‘Usaila,13 
and  going  on  from  there  |  halted  at  a  water-point  known  as  408 
al-Naqira,14  where  there  are  the  remains  of  cisterns  like  vast 
reservoirs.  Thence  we  marched  to  a  water-point  known  as 
al-Qarura,  being  certain  tanks  filled  with  rain-water,15  of  those 
which  were  constructed  by  [order  of]  Zubaida,  daughter  of 
Ja'far  (God’s  mercy  and  favour  upon  her).  This  place  is  the 
centre  of  the  land  of  Najd,  spacious,  with  sweet  air  and 
healthy  climate,  clean-soiled,  and  temperate  in  every  season 
of  the  year.  Then,  leaving  al-Qarura,  we  stopped  at  al-Hajir,16 
where  there  are  tanks  for  water,  but  as  they  often  dry  up 

11  The  pilgrim  road  from  Kufa  to  the  Hijaz  is  known  as  Darb  Zubaida, 
after  the  wife  of  the  caliph  Harun  al-Rashid  (see  p.  243,  n.  215),  who  had 
reservoirs  constructed  along  the  route  and  provided  endowments  for  their 
upkeep.  Ibn  Battuta’s  account  of  the  journey  as  far  as  Najaf  closely  follows 
that  of  Ibn  Jubair,  with  some  abridgments  and  additions.  The  exact  position 
of  Wadi’l-'Arus  is  not  indicated. 

12  All  travellers  note  the  exhilarating  effect  of  the  desert  air.  This  is  ex¬ 
plained  by  Rohlfs,  who  noted  that  in  the  open  desert  in  January  and 
February  (the  season  in  which  Ibn  Battuta  made  the  journey)  the  average 
ozone  content  is  7.3,  as  contrasted  with  a  highest  average  of  4.9  in  the 
oases. 

13  Seventy-two  Arabic  miles  (about  eighty-three  English  miles)  from 
al-Madina. 

14  The  site  of  an  ancient  mine  twenty-six  Arabic  miles  from  al-'Usaila, 
sometimes  vocalized  as  al-Nuqra,  and  shown  on  modern  maps  as  Naqra. 

Ibn  Jubair  has  ‘wells  and  cisterns  like  vast  reservoirs’.  The  Pilgrim  Road 
from  Kufa  to  Mecca  direct  bifurcated  here. 

16  For  the  usual  spelling  ‘al-Qarawra’,  Ibn  Jubair  (followed  by  Ibn 
Battuta)  substitutes  al-Qarura,  meaning  a  vessel  for  wine  or  water,  and 
sees  in  this  an  allusion  to  the  tanks.  Al-Qarawra  was  twelve  Arabic  miles 
from  the  next  halt  at  al-Hajir. 

16  On  the  Wadi  Rumma,  about  eighty-five  English  miles  south-west  of 
Faid. 


251 


FROM  MECCA  TO  KUFA 


water  has  to  be  procured  by  digging  temporary  wells,17  and 
going  on  from  there  stopped  next  at  Samira,18  which  is  a 
patch  of  low-lying  ground  situated  in  a  plain  where  there  is 
a  kind  of  fortified  and  inhabited  enceinte.  The  water  at 
Samira  is  plentiful  and  drawn  from  [cased]  wells,  but  it  is 
brackish.  The  bedouins  of  that  district  bring  sheep,  melted 
butter  and  curdled  milk,  and  sell  these  to  the  pilgrims  for 
pieces  of  coarse  cotton  cloth,  and  they  will  not  exchange 
them  for  anything  but  this.  We  resumed  our  journey  and 
halted  at  the  'Hill  with  the  Hole’,19  which  lies  in  a  tract  of 

409  desert  |  land  and  has  at  its  summit  a  perforation  from  side  to 
side  through  which  the  wind  blows.  We  proceeded  from  there 
to  Wadi’l-Kurush,  which  is  waterless  [in  spite  of  its  name], 
and  after  marching  on  through  the  night  came  in  the  morning 
to  the  fort  of  Faid.20 

Faid  is  a  large  fortified  enceinte  on  a  level  plain  and  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  wall,  with  a  suburb  outside  it.  Its  inhabitants 
are  Arabs,  who  make  a  living  off  the  pilgrims  by  selling  and 
trading.  At  that  point  the  pilgrims  leave  some  part  of  their 
provisions  at  the  time  of  their  arrival  from  al-Traq  on  the  way 
to  Mecca  (God  Most  High  ennoble  her),  and  on  the  return 
journey  they  pick  them  up  again.21  It  lies  half  way  between 
Mecca  and  Baghdad,  and  from  it  to  Kufa  is  a  twelve  days’ 
journey  by  an  easy  road  furnished  with  supplies  of  water  in 
tanks.  It  is  the  practice  of  the  caravan  to  enter  this  place  in 
military  formation  and  warlike  array,  in  order  to  overawe  the 
Arabs  who  are  assembled  there  [in  considerable  numbers] 
and  to  cut  short  their  hopes  of  despoiling  the  caravan.  We 
met  there  the  two  amirs  of  the  Arabs,  Fayyad  and  Hiyar,  | 

410  sons  of  the  amir  Muhanna  b.  Tsa,22  accompanied  by  a  body 

17  Properly  wide  uncased  holes. 

18  Twenty- three  Arabic  miles  (about  twenty-eight  English  miles)  north¬ 
east  of  al-Hajir. 

19  Al-Makhrttqa,  ‘the  perforated  hill’,  is  shown  on  Alois  Musil’s  map  of 
northern  Nejd  twenty-seven  English  miles  south-west  of  Faid. 

20  Faid,  at  270  08'  N.,  420  28'  E.,  was  the  central  station  on  the  old  Pilgrim 
Road,  replaced  in  the  nineteenth  century  by  Ha’il;  see  Musil,  Northern 
Negd,  216-20. 

21  The  geographer  Yaqut  adds  that  a  portion  of  the  provisions  and  heavy 
baggage  was  given  in  remuneration  to  the  parties  in  whose  care  they 
were  left. 

22  For  Muhanna  b.  ‘Isa  see  p.  107,  n.  152.  There  is  an  unflattering  bio¬ 
graphy  of  Fayyad  (d.  1360)  in  Durar,  III,  234,  and  of  Hiyar,  ibid.,  II,  81. 

252 


FROM  SAMfRA  TO  BIRKAT  AL-MARJUM 

of  Arab  horsemen  and  foot  soldiers  not  to  be  reckoned  for 
multitude;  both  of  them  displayed  zeal  for  the  safety  and 
protection  of  the  pilgrims  and  their  possessions.  The  Arabs 
brought  camels  and  sheep  [for  sale]  and  the  pilgrims  bought 
from  them  what  they  could  afford. 

We  set  out  again  and  halted  at  the  place  known  as  al-Ajfur 
and  made  famous  through  the  romantic  lovers  Jamil  and 
Buthaina.23  Then  travelling  on  we  halted  in  the  open  desert, 
and  again  marching  through  the  night  halted  at  Zarud,24  a 
level  plain,  in  which  there  are  extensive  sands.  The  place 
itself  has  some  small  dwellings,  which  they  have  surrounded 
by  a  sort  of  fortified  enceinte,  and  there  are  wells  of  water 
there  but  they  are  unpalatable.  Proceeding,  we  halted  at 
al-Tha'labiya,25  where  there  is  a  ruined  fort,  opposite  which 
is  an  enormous  reservoir  reached  by  a  stairway  and  con¬ 
taining  a  quantity  of  rain-water  enough  to  meet  the  needs  of 
the  whole  caravan.  A  great  host  of  bedouin  Arabs  assemble 
at  this  place  and  they  sell  camels,  |  sheep,  melted  butter  and  4n 
milk.  From  there  to  al-Kufa  are  three  marches.26  We  con¬ 
tinued  our  journey  and  halted  at  Birkat  al-Marjum  (‘The 
Pool  of  the  Stoned'),  the  latter  being  a  tomb  in  the  roadway 
with  a  great  heap  of  stones  upon  it,  and  everyone  who  passes 
by  throws  a  stone  at  it.27  It  is  related  that  the  person  who  is 


23  Al-Ajfur  means  'the  uncased  wells’,  twenty-eight  Arabic  miles  from 
Faid.  According  to  Ibn  Rusteh  it  was  formerly  a  populous  place  with  a 
Friday  mosque  ( jdmi‘ ).  The  poet  Jamil,  of  the  tribe  of  ‘Udhra,  was  the 
creator  of  a  type  of  romantic  poetry,  called  after  him  ‘Udhrite.  Much  of  his 
verse  is  addressed  to  his  inamorata  Buthaina. 

24  Also  called  al-JChuzaimiya,  after  the  general  Khuzaima  b.  Khazim 
(d.  818-9),  who  constructed  cisterns  at  this  place,  twenty  Arabic  miles  from 
al-Ajfur.  It  is  at  26°  54'N.,  430  16'  E.,  about  seventy-five  English  miles  north¬ 
east  of  Faid  in  a  direct  line. 

25  Thirty- two  Arabic  (about  thirty-seven  English)  miles  from  Zarhd,  and 
formerly  a  walled  town. 

26  This  obvious  error  seems  to  be  found  in  all  the  MSS,  and  arises 
from  a  misreading  of  Ibn  Jubair,  who  states  that  from  this  point 
there  are  only  three  natural  watering-places  ( manahil )  for  the  whole 
caravan  before  reaching  Kufa  (namely  Zubala,  Waqisa,  and  a  water¬ 
course  derived  from  the  Euphrates  near  Kufa,  as  described  below).  Ibn 
J  ubair  also  describes  the  terrifying  crush  to  secure  a  provision  of  water  at 
al-Tha'labiya. 

27  According  to  Ibn  Rusteh  and  al-Hamdani,  the  intermediate  halt  be¬ 
tween  al-Tha'labiya  and  ‘the  Cleft’  was  at  al-Bitaniya  or  al-Bitan  (on 
modern  maps  al-Butana),  twenty-eight  Arabic  miles  from  al-Tha'labiya. 

253 


FROM  MECCA  TO  KUFA 


thus  stoned  was  a  RafidI;28  he  set  out  with  the  caravan  to 
make  the  Pilgrimage,  but  a  dispute  broke  out  between  him 
and  some  Turks,  followers  of  the  Sunna,  in  the  course  of 
which  he  reviled  one  of  the  Companions  [of  the  Prophet],  so 
they  killed  him  by  [throwing]  stones.  At  this  place  there  are 
many  tents  of  the  bedouins,  who  come  to  the  caravan  bring¬ 
ing  melted  butter,  curdled  milk  and  so  on,  and  there  is  also 
a  large  reservoir  enough  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  entire 
caravan.  This  too  is  one  of  those  constructed  by  Zubaida 
(God’s  mercy  upon  her);  indeed,  ever}/  reservoir,  pool  or  well 
on  this  road  which  goes  from  Mecca  to  Baghdad  is  due  to  her 
munificent  bounty — God  give  her  goodly  reward  and 
recompense  her  for  them  in  full;  for,  had  it  not  been  for  her 
412  concern  on  behalf  of  this  |  road,  it  would  not  be  usable  by 
anyone. 

Continuing  our  journey,  we  halted  at  a  place  known  as 
al-Mashquq  [The  Cleft’],29  where  there  are  two  reservoirs 
containing  fresh  sweet  water.  Everyone  emptied  out  what 
water  was  still  in  his  possession  and  took  a  fresh  supply  from 
them.  Then  we  went  on  and  after  halting  at  a  place  called 
al-Tananlr  [The  Ovens’],  where  there  is  a  reservoir  filled 
with  water,  we  made  a  night  march  from  there  and  sometime 
after  sunrise  arrived  before  Zumala,30  an  inhabited  village 
with  a  fortified  grange  belonging  to  some  Arabs,  two  reser¬ 
voirs  of  water  and  many  wells.  This  place  is  one  of  the  natural 
watering-places  on  this  road.  We  set  out  again  and  halted  at 
al-Haithaman,31  where  there  are  two  reservoirs  of  water; 
then  continuing  on  our  way  halted  below  the  defile  known  as 
‘Aqabat  al-Shaitan  [‘Devil’s  Pass’].32  We  climbed  the  defile 
on  the  following  day.  There  is  no  steep  place  on  that  road 
except  this,  and  even  it  is  neither  difficult  nor  considerable. 

28 1.e.  Shi'ite,  see  p.  83,  n.  62.  This  legend  is  apparently  later  than  Ibn 
J  ubair’s  time. 

29  In  Ibn  Rusteh  and  al-Hamdanl  al-Shuquq,  at  a  distance  of  twenty- 
nine  and  twenty-two  Arabic  miles  respectively  from  al-Bitaniya. 

30  Properly  Zubala,  nineteen  Arabic  miles  from  al-Shuquq,  at  430  45'  E., 
290  26"  N. 

31  Ibn  Rusteh  and  al-Hamdanl  give  this  station  the  name  of  Qa‘;  on 
current  maps  it  is  shown  as  ‘al-Ga  wal-Haitam’,  about  430  40'  E.,  290  46'  N., 
eighteen  Arabic  miles  from  Zubala. 

32  Shown  on  Musil’s  map  as  ash-She‘eb  at  30°  11'  N.,  430  42'  E.,  twenty- 
five  Arabic  miles  from  al-Ga  (al-Haithaman) . 

254 


FROM  MASHQUQ  TO  QADISIYA 

We  halted  next  at  a  place  |  called  Waqisa,33  where  there  is  a  413 
large  fortified  grange  and  reservoirs  of  water.  It  is  inhabited 
by  bedouin  Arabs,  and  is  the  last  of  the  natural  watering- 
places  on  this  road,  for  thereafter  until  al-Kufa  there  is  no 
conspicuous  watering-place  except  the  watercourses  derived 
from  the  Euphrates.  At  this  point  many  of  the  people  of  al- 
Kufa  come  out  to  meet  the  pilgrim  caravan,  bringing  flour, 
bread,  dried  dates  and  fruit,  and  the  travellers  congratulate 
one  another  on  their  safe  journey.  We  then  halted  at  a  place 
known  as  Lawra,34  where  there  is  a  large  reservoir  for  water; 
then  at  a  place  known  as  al-Masajid  [‘the  Mosques’],35  where 
there  are  three  reservoirs;  then  at  a  place  known  as  Manarat 
al-Qurun  [‘the  Tower  of  Horns’],36  this  being  a  tower  in  a 
desert  locality,  conspicuous  in  height  and  decorated  on  top 
with  horns  of  gazelles,  with  no  habitation  around  it.  We 
halted  next  at  a  place  known  as  al-‘Udhaib,37  which  is  a 
fruitful  valley  covered  with  dwellings  and  cultivation  and 
surrounded  by  a  plain  abounding  in  pasture  and  affording  a 
pleasant  prospect  to  the  eyes.  Thereafter  we  halted  at  al- 
Qadisiya,  where  the  famous  battle  was  fought  against  the 
Persians,  in  which  God  manifested  the  triumph  of  the  Faith 
of  Islam,  |  and  subdued  the  Magians,  the  fire-worshippers,  414 
so  that  after  it  no  foot  was  left  for  them  to  stand  on  and  God 
extirpated  their  root.38  The  commander  of  the  Muslims  at 
that  time  was  Sa‘d  b.  Abi  Waqqas  (God  be  pleased  with  him), 
and  al-QadisIya  was  a  great  city  which  Sa‘d  (God  be  pleased 
with  him)  took  by  force,  but  it  fell  into  ruins  so  that  nothing 
now  remains  of  it  except  as  much  as  constitutes  a  large  village. 
The  place  contains  some  palm-groves  and  at  it  there  are  water 
courses  of  Euphrates  water. 

We  went  on  from  there  and  halted  at  the  town  of  Mashhad 

33  About  sixty  English  miles  north  of  al-Ga,  at  430  43'  E.,  30°  35'  N. 
Waqisa  also  was  a  populous  centre  in  earlier  centuries. 

34  Sixteen  English  miles  north  by  east  from  Waqisa. 

35  Or  al-Musaijid  (‘the  Little  Mosque’),  thirty-four  English  miles  north  by 
east  from  Waqisa  and  sixty-eight  south  by  west  from  al-Najaf.  Ibn  Jubair 
substitutes  for  this  ‘a  place  containing  the  remains  of  buildings,  called 
al-Qar‘a.’ 

36  Also  called  Umm  Qurun,  twenty-six  English  miles  from  al-Masajid. 

37  The  last  outpost  of  ‘Iraq  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

38  Al-Qadisiya,  fifteen  miles  south  of  al-Najaf,  was  the  site  of  the  battle 
in  which  the  Arab  forces  under  Sa'd  b.  Abi  Waqqas  totally  defeated  the  main 
army  of  the  Sasanid  kings  of  Persia  in  637,  five  years  after  Muhammad’s 

S  255  T.O.I.B. 


FROM  MECCA  TO  KUFA 


'All  b.  Abl  Talib39  (God  be  pleased  with  him)  at  al-Najaf.  It  is 
a  fine  city,  situated  in  a  wide  rocky  plain — one  of  the  finest, 
most  populous,  and  most  substantially  built  cities  of  al-‘Iraq, 
and  it  has  beautiful  clean  bazaars.  We  entered  it  by  the 
[outer]  Bab  al-Hadra  and  made  our  way  through  the  bazaar 
of  the  greengrocers,  cooks,  and  butchers,  then  through  the 
fruit-market,  then  the  bazaar  of  the  tailors  and  the  Oaisa- 
riya,40  then  the  perfumers'  bazaar,  and  so  came  to  the  [inner] 
415  Bab  al-Hadra,  where  is  |  the  tomb  which  they  claim  to  be 
the  tomb  of  ‘All41  (peace  be  upon  him).  Fronting  it  are  a 
number  of  colleges,  religious  houses  and  convents,  most 
beautifully  adorned,  their  walls  being  faced  with  qashani 
[tiles],  which  resemble  the  zaltj  in  our  country  but  are  more 
lustrous  in  colour  and  more  finely  engraved.42 

The  mausoleum 43  and  tombs  contained  in  it.  One  enters 
through  the  Bab  al-Hadra  into  a  vast  college,  inhabited  by 
students  and  sufls  belonging  to  the  Shfa.  Everyone  who 
visits  it  receives  hospitality  for  three  days — namely,  bread, 
meat,  and  dried  dates  twice  daily.  From  this  college  one  gains 
access  to  the  gateway  of  the  domed  shrine,  which  is  guarded 
by  a  number  of  doorkeepers,  chamberlains  and  eunuchs.  As 
the  visitor  [to  the  tomb]  approaches,  one  of  them  rises  to 


death,  and  gained  possession  of  the  whole  of  ‘Iraq.  Al-Qadisiya  was  never  a 
city,  and  in  the  next  sentence  Ibn  Battuta  appears  to  confuse  it  with  al- 
Mada’  in  (Ctesiphon),  the  capital,  which  fell  to  the  Arabs  after  the  battle. 

39  I.e.  ‘the  Sepulchre  of  ‘All’,  the  Prophet’s  nephew  and  son-in-law; 
elected  caliph  in  656  after  the  murder  of  ‘Othman  (see  p.  180,  n.  91),  he 
removed  the  capital  from  al-Madina  to  Kufa  and  was  assassinated  there  by 
a  fanatic  in  660.  For  his  sons  al-Hasan  and  al-Husain  see  p.  179,  n.  90,  and 
p.  46,  n.  140. 

40  See  p.  97,  n.  115. 

41  Ibn  Battuta’s  caution  is  justified  by  the  historical  records,  which  by 
no  means  favour  any  categorical  assertion  of  the  genuineness  of  the  site, 
although  it  has  been  held  in  especial  reverence  (together  with  the  tomb  of  his 
son  al-Husain  at  Karbala)  by  the  Shi'ites  from  early  times.  Both  cities,  as 
Shi'ite  holy  places,  were  richly  endowed  with  religious  institutions,  and 
have  remained  to  the  present  day  centres  of  Shi'ite  learning. 

42  Qashan,  between  Isfahan  and  Qumm,  was  the  most  celebrated  centre  of 
manufacture  of  the  blue  and  green  enamelled  tiles  used  for  the  decoration  of 
walls;  hence  the  term  qashani  for  such  tiles.  The  corresponding  tiles  of 
Spanish-Arab  manufacture  were  (and  are)  called  zallj,  a  term  derived 
from  Spanish  azulejo,  itself  derived  from  Perso- Arabic  lazward  =  lapis  lazuli. 

43  Literally,  ‘the  Garden’  ( al-Rawda ),  by  derivation  from  the  Rawda  in  the 
Prophet’s  mosque  at  al-Madina  (see  p.  165,  n.  44).  Bab  al-Hadra  means  ‘Gate 
of  the  Presence’ ^ 


256 


AL-N AJAF 

meet  him  or  all  of  them  do,  this  being  regulated  by  the 
visitor’s  rank.  They  stand  beside  him  on  the  threshold  and 
ask  permission  for  him  to  enter,  saying:  ‘By  your  leave,  O 
Commander  of  the  Faithful,44  |  this  feeble  creature  asks  per-  416 
mission  for  his  entry  to  the  sublime  mausoleum.45  If  ye  grant 
it  to  him  [so  be  it],  but  if  not,  he  will  turn  back;  and  though 
he  be  not  worthy  of  this  [favour],  ye  are  the  possessor  of 
generous  qualities  and  of  dignity/  They  then  bid  him  kiss 
the  threshold,  which  is  of  silver,  as  also  are  the  doorposts. 
Having  done  so,  he  enters  the  shrine,  which  is  carpeted  with 
various  sorts  of  carpets  of  silk  and  other  materials,  and  con¬ 
tains  candelabra  of  gold  and  silver,  large  and  small.  In  the 
centre  of  [the  space  beneath]  the  dome  is  a  square  platform, 
faced  with  wood,  upon  which  are  carved  golden  plaques  of 
excellent  workmanship,  hammered  on  with  silver  nails,  which 
have  so  completely  masked  the  wood  that  none  of  it  is 
visible.  The  height  of  the  platform  is  less  than  the  stature  of 
a  man,  and  on  top  of  it  are  three  tombs,  of  which  they 
assert  that  one  is  the  tomb  of  Adam  (upon  him  be  blessing 
and  peace),  the  second  the  tomb  of  Noah  (upon  him  be 
blessing  and  peace),  and  the  third  the  tomb  of  ‘All  (God  be 
pleased  with  him).46  Between  the  tombs  are  dishes  of  gold  | 
and  silver,  containing  rose-water,  musk  and  various  kinds  of  417 
perfumes.  The  visitor  dips  his  hand  in  this  and  anoints  his 
face  with  it  for  a  blessing.  The  shrine  has  another  door  the 
threshold  of  which  is  likewise  of  silver,  and  with  hangings 
of  coloured  silk  over  it.  This  leads  to  a  mosque  laid  with 
beautiful  carpets,  its  walls  and  ceiling  concealed  by  silken 
hangings,  and  having  four  doorways  with  thresholds  of  silver 
and  covered  by  silken  hangings. 

The  inhabitants  of  this  citv  are  all  of  them  Rafidls,  and  at 

•V  •  ' 

this  mausoleum  certain  miracles  are  operated,  whereby  it  is 
established,  so  they  claim,  that  the  mausoleum  does  indeed 
contain  the  grave  of  ‘All  (God  be  pleased  with  him).  One  of 
these  miracles  is  that  on  the  eve  of  the  twenty-seventh  of 

44  The  Caliphial  title  Amir  al-Mu'minin  (see  p.  250,  n.  8  above)  is  reserved 
by  the  ‘Twelver’  Shi'ites  exclusively  to  ‘All. 

45  Al-Rawda  al-  Aliyy a,  with  a  play  on  the  name  of  ‘All. 

46  Ibn  Battuta  insists  on  employing  after  the  name  of  ‘All  the  Sunni 
formula  given  to  Companions  of  the  Prophet,  instead  of  the  Shi'ite  formula 
‘upon  him  be  peace’. 


25  7 


FROM  MECCA  TO  KUFA 

Rajab,  which  is  called  by  them  ‘the  night  of  life’,47  all  the 
crippled  are  brought  to  this  mausoleum  from  the  two  ‘Iraqs, 
Khurasan,  the  country  of  Fars  and  Rum,48  so  that  there  are 
assembled  some  thirty  or  forty  of  them.  After  the  last  ritual 
prayer  of  the  night,  they  are  placed  upon  the  sanctified 

418  tomb,  while  the  people  |  wait  in  expectation  of  their  rising 
and  pass  the  time,  some  in  praying,  others  in  reciting 
liturgies,  or  reading  [the  Qur’an],  or  in  contemplation  of  the 
mausoleum.  When  the  night  is  half  over,  or  two-thirds  or  so, 
the  whole  company  arise  sound  in  body,  with  no  trace  of 
disease,  and  saying:  ‘There  is  no  God  but  God;  Muhammad  is 
the  Apostle  of  God;  ‘All  is  the  Friend  of  God.’49  This  is  a 
thing  much  spoken  of  among  them;  I  heard  of  it  from  trust¬ 
worthy  persons,  but  I  was  not  actually  present  on  any  such 
night.  I  saw,  however,  in  the  Guests’  College  three  men,  one 
from  the  land  of  Rum,  the  second  from  Isfahan  and  the  third 
from  Khurasan,  who  were  cripples,  and  when  I  asked  them 
about  themselves  they  told  me  that  they  had  missed  the 
‘Night  of  Life’  and  were  waiting  for  its  time  to  come  round 
next  year.  This  night  serves  as  occasion  for  a  gathering  of  the 
people  from  the  district,  and  they  hold  a  great  fair  lasting  for 
ten  days. 

419  In  this  town  there  is  no  |  tax,  no  farmer  of  market  or  octroi 
dues,  and  no  royal  governor,  but  the  government  over  them 
is  exercised  solely  by  the  Marshal  of  the  Sharlfs.50  Its  in¬ 
habitants  are  merchants,  who  travel  far  and  wide;  they  are 
courageous  and  open-handed,  and  their  protege  suffers  no 
wrong  on  his  joumeyings  with  them,  so  that  their  company 
is  highly  commended.  But  they  are  fanatical  about  ‘All  (God 
be  pleased  with  him).  There  are  some  people  in  the  land  of 
al-Traq  and  other  lands  who,  if  attacked  by  illness,  vow  to 
make  a  votive  offering  to  the  mausoleum  when  they  re¬ 
cover.  In  other  cases  a  man  suffering  from  illness  in  the  head 

17  Lailat  al-Mahya ;  this  is  the  same  night  celebrated  by  the  Sunnis  as  the 
‘Night  of  the  Ascension’,  lailat  al-Mi'raj;  see  p.  77,  n.  32. 

48  I.e.  Anatolia,  the  Rum  being  the  Byzantine  Greeks. 

49  This  is  one  form  of  the  Shi'ite  formula  for  the  profession  of  faith,  the 
third  phrase  being  added  to  the  two  basic  tenets  of  Islam. 

60  Naqib  al-Ashrdf,  the  marshal  (or  keeper  of  the  register)  of  the  descen¬ 
dants  of  the  Prophet  through  ‘All  and  Fatima,  called  Sharlfs.  Every  district 
and  major  city  had  its  own  Naqib  al-Ashraf. 

258 


GOVERNMENT  OF  AL-NAJAF 

will  make  a  head  of  gold  or  silver  and  bring  it  to  the  mauso¬ 
leum,  and  the  Marshal  puts  it  into  the  treasury;  likewise  with 
hand  or  foot,  or  any  other  member.  The  treasury  of  the 
mausoleum  is  enormous,  and  contains  such  a  quantity  of 
riches  as  defies  exact  computation. 

The  Naqib  al-Ashraf  [marshal  of  the  sharifs).  The  Naqib 
al-Ashraf  is  appointed  by  the  king  of  al-Traq  as  his  represen¬ 
tative;51  |  his  position  in  the  king’s  esteem  is  an  assured  one  42o 
and  he  has  an  exalted  rank  [at  the  court].  He  observes  the 
same  ceremony  as  the  great  amirs  on  his  journeys;  he  has 
flags  and  drums,  and  military  music52  is  played  at  his  gate 
evening  and  morning.  In  his  hands  is  the  government  of  this 
city — there  is  no  other  governor  in  it,  and  no  tax  is  levied  in 
it  either  for  the  Sultan  or  for  anyone  else.  The  Naqib  at  the 
time  of  my  entering  the  city  was  Nizam  al-DIn  b.  Taj  al- 
Dln  al-AwI,53  the  ethnic  being  derived  from  the  town  of 
Awa  in  Persian  ‘Iraq,54  whose  inhabitants  are  Rafidls.  Before 
him  there  were  a  number,  each  of  whom  held  the  office  in 
succession.  Amongst  these  were  Jalal  al-DIn  ibn  al-Faqlh; 
Qiwam  al-DIn  ibn  Ta’us;  Nasir  al-DIn  Mutahhar  son  of  the 
pious  sharlf  Shams  al-DIn  Muhammad  al-Awharl,  from 
Persian  ‘Iraq,  who  is  now  in  the  land  of  India  and  one  of  the 
familiars  of  the  king  of  that  country;  and  |  Abu  Ghurra  b.  42i 
Salim  b.  Muhanna  b.  Jammaz  b.  Shlha,  of  the  Husain!  house 
of  al-Madlna.55 

An  anecdote.  The  Sharif  Abu  Ghurra  was  in  his  early  youth 
given  over  to  devotion  and  study,  and  acquired  repute 


61  Ibn  Battuta  appears  to  use  the  term  muqaddam  to  imply  representation 
as  distinct  from  direct  appointment;  as  stated  below,  the  Sultan  did  not 
nominate  the  Naqib  but  confirmed  the  choice  of  the  leading  citizens. 

62  The  tabl-khana,  see  p.  89,  n.  80. 

53  The  son  of  Taj  al-DIn  Muhammad  b.  al-Husain  al-Awi  (or  al-Awaji) 
(see  vol.  II,  p.  57  of  the  Arabic  text),  who  was  credited  with  converting  the 
Mongol  Ilkhan  Uljaytu  to  Shi'ism,  and  was  executed  in  Dhu’l-Qa'da  71 1 
(April  1312). 

64  There  were  two  towns  named  Aveh  (  =  Awa)  in  the  same  province,  one 
midway  between  Qumm  and  Hamadan,  the  other  (distinguished  as  ‘Aveh  of 
Saveh’)  south  of  Saveh  and  about  thirty  miles  west  of  Qumm.  The  latter  is 
more  probably  the  one  meant  here,  as  its  population  was  noted  for  their 
fervent  Shi'ite  profession. 

65  Jammaz  b.  Shlha,  d.  1304,  of  the  Husainid  line  of  Sharifs,  had  been 
amir  of  al-Madina  for  over  fifty  years.  For  Mansur  and  other  members  of 
the  family  see  p.  178.  nn.  82,  83. 


259 


FROM  MECCA  TO  KUFA 


thereby.  He  lived  at  that  time  in  al-Madlna  the  Illustrious 
(God  glorify  her),  under  the  care  of  his  cousin  Mansur  b. 
Jammaz,  the  amir  of  al-Madlna.  Later  on  he  left  al-Madlna 
and  made  his  home  in  al-Traq,  settling  there  at  al-Hilla. 
When  the  Naqlb  Qiwam  ad-Dln  b.  Ta’us  died,  the  men  of 
al-Traq  agreed  to  invest  Abu  Ghurra  with  the  office  of  Naqlb 
al-Ashraf,  and  wrote  to  this  effect  to  the  Sultan  Abu  Sa‘Id, 
who  confirmed  the  recommendation  and  sent  to  Abu  Ghurra 
th eyarligh,  that  is  to  say  the  dhahir ,56  of  investiture.  He  was 
sent  also  the  robe  of  honour,  the  standard  and  the  drums,  as 
is  customary  for  the  naqibs  in  the  land  of  al-Traq.  Then  the 
world  got  the  better  of  him,  he  gave  up  his  devotions  and  his 

422  pious  abstinences,  |  and  made  unrighteous  use  of  the  moneys 
at  his  disposal.  This  conduct  of  his  was  brought  to  the  notice 
of  the  Sultan  accordingly.  When  Abu  Ghurra  learned  of  this 
he  set  out  on  a  journey,  giving  out  that  he  was  making  for 
Khurasan  with  the  object  of  visiting  the  tomb  of  ‘All  b. 
Musa  al-Rida,  at  Tus,57  but  his  real  purpose  was  to  escape. 
So,  after  visiting  the  tomb  of  ‘All  b.  Musa,  he  proceeded  to 
Herat,  which  is  the  last  of  the  cities  of  Khurasan,  and  in¬ 
formed  his  companions  that  he  intended  to  go  to  India.  Most 
of  them  abandoned  him,  but  he  for  his  part  went  on  from  the 
territory  of  Khurasan  towards  Sind.  After  crossing  the  river 
of  Sind,  which  is  called  Panj  Ab,58  he  had  his  drums  and  his 
trumpets  sounded,  and  thereby  so  startled  the  villagers  that 
they  thought  that  the  Tatars  had  come  to  raid  them  and  fled 
in  panic  to  the  city  called  Uja,  where  they  informed  the 
governor  of  what  they  had  heard.  He  rode  therefore  with  his 
troops  and  prepared  for  battle.  When  he  sent  out  the  scouts, 
they  discovered  about  ten  horsemen  and  a  number  of  men  on 

423  foot  and  merchants  who  |  had  accompanied  the  Sharif  on  his 
road,  carrying  kettledrums  and  banners.  The  scouts  asked 
them  who  they  were  and  what  they  were  doing,  and  were  told 

66  Yarligh  was  the  Mongol  term  for  a  patent  of  investiture  (see  Yule, 
Marco  Polo ,  ed.  Cordier,  I,  352).  Ibn  Battuta  translates  it  by  the  equivalent 
term,  peculiar  to  Morocco,  for  a  diploma  or  public  act  of  the  sovereign. 

67  ‘All,  entitled  al-Rida,  eighth  Imam  of  the  Twelver  Shi'ites,  died  in  818 
and  was  buried  at  Tus;  his  sanctuary,  called  Mashhad  ‘All,  was  the  origin  of 
the  city  of  Meshed  (see  Selections,  177,  and  360,  n.  12). 

68  Panj  Ab  (in  Arabic  transcription  Banj  Ab)  is  always  used  by  Ibn 
Battuta  as  the  name  of  the  Indus  river  ( Selections ,  181). 

260 


STORY  OF  ABU  GHURRA 

that  the  Sharif,  the  Naqlb  of  al-Traq,  had  come  on  a  mission 
to  the  king  of  India.  They  returned  and  reported  the  circum¬ 
stances  to  the  governor,  who  opined  that  the  Sharif  showed 
little  intelligence  in  hoisting  his  banners  and  beating  his 
drums  outside  his  own  country.  The  Sharif  entered  the  city 
of  Uja  and  stayed  there  for  a  time,  having  the  drums  beaten 
at  the  gate  of  his  residence  morning  and  evening,  for  that 
used  to  give  him  much  gratification.  It  is  said  that  in  the 
days  of  his  marshalship  in  al-Traq,  the  kettledrums  were 
beaten  before  him  and  when  the  drummer  finished  beating 
he  would  say  to  him  ‘One  more  roll,  drummer’,  until  the 
phrase  stuck  to  him  as  a  nickname. 

The  governor  of  the  town  of  Uja  wrote  to  the  king  of 
India  to  report  [the  arrival  of]  the  Sharif  and  his  drum¬ 
beating,  both  on  his  journey  and  before  his  residence  morning 
and  evening,  |  as  well  as  his  flying  of  banners.  Now  the424 
custom  among  the  people  of  India  is  that  no  person  hoists  a 
banner  or  beats  a  drum  except  those  to  whom  the  king  has 
given  this  privilege,  and  [even  then]  they  do  so  only  while 
travelling.  When  in  residence,  however,  no  drum  is  beaten 
except  at  the  king’s  gate  alone.  In  Egypt,  Syria  and  al-Traq, 
on  the  other  hand,  drums  are  beaten  at  the  gates  of  the 
military  commanders.  When  the  report  on  the  Sharif  reached 
the  king  of  India,  therefore,  he  was  displeased  and  annoyed 
at  his  action,  and  resented  it.  The  Sharif59  departed  some 
time  later  for  the  king’s  capital.  Now  the  amir  Kishlu  Khan 
(the  term  khan  is  applied  by  them  to  the  greatest  of  the 
amirs),  being  the  resident  in  Multan,  the  seat  of  government 
in  the  country  of  al-Sind — he  is  held  in  high  regard  by  the 
king  of  India,  who  calls  him  ‘Uncle’,  because  he  was  one  of 
those  who  aided  the  king’s  father,  the  sultan  Ghiyath  al-Dln 
Tughluq-Shah,  to  fight  against  the  Nasir  al-DIn  Khusraw- 
Shah60 — had  come  to  the  capital  of  the  king  of  India  |  and  425 
the  king  went  out  to  receive  him.  It  happened  that  the 
Sharif’s  arrival  was  on  that  same  day.  The  Sharif  had  pre¬ 
ceded  the  amir  by  some  miles  [and  as  he  approached  the  city] 
with  his  drums  beating  as  usual,  suddenly  he  met  the  Sultan 

69  The  text  has  al-amir,  but  the  sense  of  the  narrative  clearly  requires  the 
reading  al-sharlf. 

60  The  narrative  of  these  events  is  given  more  fully  in  vol.  III. 

26l 


FROM  MECCA  TO  KUFA 

with  his  cortege.  The  Sharif  went  forward  to  the  Sultan  and 
saluted  him,  but  the  Sultan,  after  asking  him  how  he  was  and 
why  he  had  come  and  hearing  his  answers,  went  on  till  he  met 
the  amir  Kishlu  Khan,  and  returned  to  his  capital  without 
paying  any  attention  to  the  Sharif  or  giving  orders  for  his 
lodging  or  anything  else.  The  king  was  then  on  the  point  of 
travelling  to  the  city  of  Dawlat  Abad  (which  is  also  called  al- 
Kataka,  and  also  al-Duwaigir)61 — it  is  at  a  distance  of  forty 
days  from  the  city  of  Dihll,  the  capital  of  the  kingdom — 
and  when  he  set  out  on  his  journey  he  sent  the  Sharif  five 
hundred  silver  dinars  (the  exchange  value  of  this  in  the  gold 

426  of  Morocco  being  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  |  dinars),  and 
said  to  the  messenger  whom  he  dispatched  to  the  Sharif:  ‘Tell 
him  that  if  he  wants  to  go  back  to  his  country,  this  is  his 
travelling  provision,  and  if  he  wants  to  travel  with  us  it  is  for 
his  expenses  on  the  journey,  but  if  he  prefers  to  stay  in  the 
capital  it  is  for  his  expenses  until  we  return.'  The  Sharif  was 
vexed  at  this,  for  what  he  desired  was  that  the  Sultan  should 
make  as  lavish  an  allowance  to  him  as  he  usually  did  to  his 
equals.  He  chose  to  travel  in  the  Sultan's  company  and 
attached  himself  to  the  wazir,  Ahmad  b.  Aiyas,  called 
Khwdja  Jahdn 62  (this  is  the  title  which  was  given  to  him  by 
the  king  and  by  which  he  calls  himself  and  is  called  by  all 
other  persons,  for  it  is  their  custom  that  when  the  king  con¬ 
fers  on  anyone  a  title  composed  with  al-Mulk,  such  as  ‘I mad 
or  Thiqat  or  Qutb ,  or  a  title  composed  with  al- Jahdn  such  as 
Sadr,  etc.,  this  is  the  name  by  which  he  is  addressed  by  the 
king  and  by  all  persons,  and  anyone  who  addresses  him  in  any 
other  way  is  punished  without  fail) . 

427  A  strong  friendship  grew  up  |  between  the  wazir  and  the 
Sharif,  and  the  former  made  gifts  to  him,  showed  him  great 
honour,  and  so  used  his  influence  with  the  king  that  he  came 
to  regard  him  with  favour  and  assigned  him  two  villages  in 

61  Deogir  (transcribed  by  Ibn  Battuta  as  if  it  were  an  Arabic  diminutive 
name)  is  the  name  of  the  ancient  fortress  in  the  Deccan  (described  later  by 
Ibn  Battuta,  see  Selections,  227  and  363,  n.  7)  which  was  renamed  Dawlat 
Abad  by  Sultan  Muhammad  b.  Tughluq.  I  have  found  no  explanation  of  the 
name  Kataka. 

62  Ahmad  Aiyaz,  ‘the  Master  of  the  World’,  Sultan  Muhammad’s  vizier,  is 
frequently  mentioned  in  the  Indian  section  of  Ibn  Battuta’s  travels.  He  died 
in  1351. 


262 


STORY  OF  ABU  GHURRA 

the  district  of  Dawlat  Abad,  with  an  order  that  he  should 
reside  in  them.  This  wazir  was  an  excellent  and  virtuous  man, 
of  high  qualities  of  character,  with  a  liking  for  foreigners  and 
generous  towards  them,  and  he  made  a  practice  of  charity 
and  distributing  food  and  building  hospices. 

The  Sharif  continued  to  enjoy  the  revenues  of  the  two 
villages  for  eight  years  and  acquired  thereby  a  large  fortune. 
He  then  wished  to  leave  the  country,  but  could  not,  since 
those  who  are  in  the  king’s  service  may  not  leave  without  his 
permission,  and  he  has  a  great  liking  for  foreigners  and  rarely 
gives  anyone  of  them  leave  to  depart.  So  the  Sharif  tried  to 
escape  by  way  of  the  coast  road,  but  was  turned  back  from  it; 
then  he  went  to  the  capital  and  besought  the  wazir  to  under¬ 
take  the  matter  of  his  departure.  The  wazir  used  his  good 
offices  to  that  end,  |  so  that  the  Sultan  finally  consented  to  his  428 
leaving  the  land  of  India  and  made  him  a  gift  of  10,000  of 
their  silver  dinars  (the  value  of  which  in  Moroccan  gold  is 
2,500  dinars).  The  money  was  brought  to  him  in  a  sack  and 
he  used  to  put  it  beneath  his  mattress  and  sleep  on  it,  out  of 
his  love  of  money  and  joy  in  it  and  his  fear  lest  any  of  it 
should  get  to  any  of  his  companions,  for  he  was  a  miser.  As  a 
result  of  sleeping  on  it  he  was  attacked  by  a  pain  in  his  side, 
which  persistently  grew  worse  just  as  he  was  about  to  set  out 
on  his  journey,  and  eventually  he  died  twenty  days  after 
receiving  the  sack.  He  bequeathed  that  money  to  the  Sharif 
Hasan  al-Jaranl,63  who  distributed  the  whole  amount  in 
alms  to  a  community  of  Shi'ites  from  the  Hijaz  and  al-Traq 
living  in  Dihll.  The  Indians  do  not  escheat  inheritances  to  the 
treasury64  nor  do  they  interfere  with  the  property  of  strangers 
nor  even  |  make  inquiries  about  it,  let  it  amount  to  as  much  429 
as  it  may.  In  the  same  ways  the  Blacks  [of  the  Niger  king¬ 
doms]  never  interfere  with  the  property  of  a  white  man,  nor 
seize  it,  but  it  is  left  in  charge  of  the  principal  members  of  his 
company  until  the  rightful  heir  comes  to  claim  it. 

This  Sharif  Abu  Ghurra  had  a  brother  named  Qasim,  who 
lived  for  a  time  in  Granada.  He  married  there  the  daughter 

63  The  reading  of  this  name  is  doubtful  (Harrani,  Hirafi?),  and  the  Sharif 
seems  to  be  otherwise  unknown. 

64  Which  is  in  Islamic  law  the  ultimate  heir,  in  default  of  kinsmen.  But 
medieval  Islamic  governments  not  infrequently  seized  inheritances  on  various 
pretexts.  ' 


263 


FROM  MECCA  TO  KUFA 

of  the  Sharif  Abu  ‘Abdallah  b.  Ibrahim,  known  as  al-Makkl, 
and  thereafter  removed  to  Jabal  Tariq  [Gibraltar]  where  he 
remained  until  he  gained  martyrdom  in  Wadi  Kurra,  in  the 
province  of  al-jazlra  al-Khadra’  [Algeciras].65  He  was  a  hero 
of  heroes;  none  ventured  to  be  scorched  in  his  fire,  and  he 
performed  miracles  of  valour.  His  bravery  is  the  subject 
of  many  stories  which  are  widely  known  amongst  the  people. 
He  left  two  sons,  who  are  still  under  ward  of  their  stepfather, 
the  worthy  Sharif  Abu  ‘Abdallah  Muhammad  b.  Abi’l- 
Qasim  b.  Nafls  al-Husainl  al-Karbala/I,  well  known  in  the 
430  Maghrib  by  the  name  of  al-‘ Iraqi66  (he  had  |  married  their 
mother  after  their  father’s  death,  and  she  died  while  with  him) 
and  he  continues  his  benevolent  care  of  them,  God  reward 
him  well ! 

65  Neither  Qasim  nor  Wadi  Kurra  has  been  traced  in  contemporary 
Spanish- Arabic  sources. 

66  Probably  son  of  the  Chief  QadI  of  Granada,  mentioned  in  vol.  IV, 
p.  370  of  the  Arabic  text. 


264 


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269 


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